Missing Nin
by limadude120
Summary: On his three year training trip with Jiraiya, Naruto learns so much more than just timing his shadow clones. He learns sealing and senjutsu. But when he returns home, he is framed for an assassination and branded a missing nin. Angry and confused, Naruto tries to clear his name, but nothing is as it seems. DISCONTINUED. Story outline posted for closure. Being revamped.
1. Chapter 1: Naruto Uzumaki

**A/N:** Timeline takes place right after Naruto returns from his training trip with Jiraiya.

* * *

Chapter 1: Naruto Uzumaki…

* * *

The shackles were heavy on his wrists and ankles, dragging noisily on the stone pavement as he was roughly hauled through the streets. The prisoner gave a pained grunt as his knees jolted against a crack in the road.

All around him, he could hear the yells, the jeers, the taunts: Demon! Scum! Traitor! Trash! He could feel some of the bolder people in the crowd spit on his head.

But still, the prisoner kept his head down, eyes hidden by his disheveled hair. His clothes were torn, revealing the bruises on his body, the results of an overzealous interrogator.

"You deserve to die for everything you did, demon!" The prisoner nearly flinched as the voice cut through the roar of the crowd. That sounded like…

Pain suddenly spiked through his entire body as he was dumped onto a raised platform by his guards. Grunting with the exertion, the prisoner craned his neck slightly, trying to lift his head off of the ground. Opening his bleary eyes, the prisoner blinked, trying to block the noise of the crowd out. This was it. The execution block.

The two ANBU stood on either side, tall and imposing, silent and lethal. Then, one moved, lashing out with his foot. The prisoner gave a cry of pain, much to the delight of the crowd. When he didn't budge, the ANBU kicked again, this time harder, shoving the body toward a pole erected in the center of the platform.

The prisoner cried out as his back slammed painfully against the post. He could vaguely feel his hands and ankles being bound to the post, forcing him into a kneeling position. From this position, the crowd sounded louder, seemed larger, and felt more oppressive.

Some in the crowd were hurling garbage at the prisoner, piling their anger and hatred onto this one man.

Then suddenly, one by one, the crowd fell silent, an expectant hush gripping the frenzied mob. The prisoner felt the change and painfully raised his head to see what had happened. He gave a sharp intake of breath as he saw _him_!

"You! You bastard!" He yelled out, before being struck suddenly across the face.

The prisoner fell silent, but did not let his glare fall from _him_. _He_ only gave back a cool glance at the tied man, as if he were too holy to even recognize the filthy prisoner, and turned toward the crowd.

"People of Konoha!" His voice was loud and clear, surprising for one so old. "We are here today to witness the trial of this man," He shouted, pointing to the beaten prisoner with a crooked finger, "For the attempted murder of the Fifth Hokage!"

The crowd gave a savage cheer. "Let's kill him now!" Some were saying. "He deserves something long and slow!" Others were calling out.

The prisoner felt despair as he heard not a single voice from his so-called friends.

"What do you have to say for yourself?"

The defendant blinked, before he realized that he was the one being addressed.

"I have nothing to say except that I am innocent!" He spat out, his voice filled with impassioned bitterness.

"So you have said, but you cannot deny the evidence brought against you!" The old man proclaimed.

"I was framed!" The prisoner cried out, trying to make the people see sense.

The old man gave a smug smile before turning to the crowd. "So you say, but what do you say, friends?"

The crowd gave a mighty roar, hundreds of voices all condemning the man before them. After a short while, the old man raised his hands again. "So is he guilty or not?"

"**GUILTY!**" The crowd roared in return. The defendant felt his heart sink at the words, wondering why nobody wanted to believe him. He was innocent! This wasn't even a real trial! Just a farce of one! While the man raged silently in his head, the crowd fell silent as they waited expectantly for the old man's fated words.

"Therefore," He began ominously. The prisoner gave one last pleading look at the crowd, hoping to find a familiar face. There were none.

"I pronounce you guilty of the attempted assassination of the Fifth Hokage. I hereby sentence you, Naruto Uzumaki, to death!"

"NO! I'm innocent!" Naruto yelled in desperation. "I was set up! I demand a real trial!" Naruto struggled against his bonds, his limbs flaring in pain, desperately trying to plead his case. "Please! I'm innocent," He croaked out at last, but his voice was drowned in the malicious cheering of the crowd.

Naruto looked on helplessly, as Danzo turned to an ANBU and gave a nod.

Finally realizing that it had truly come down to this, Naruto bared his teeth and growled at his prosecutor, "I'll get you for this, Danzo. Don't think I won't."

Danzo only paused before commenting quietly, "I think not, as you'll be quite dead shortly." Then Danzo turned to the crowd. "My friends!" He gestured dramatically with his hands. "For justice!"

"**JUSTICE!**" The crowd roared back at him.

Danzo then sneered once more before nodding again to the ANBU. Everybody made their way off the platform save for the executioner, whom the crowd cheered on more enthusiastically as they sensed the end nearing.

Forming several quick hand seals, the ANBU took a deep breath and gathered his chakra. "**Fire style: Fireball jutsu!**" A huge fireball raced toward the prone form of Naruto Uzumaki, bringing with it his death. Naruto squinted as he felt the searing heat on his face, scrabbling with his hands to touch the chakra suppression seal on his restraints.

_I WILL NOT DIE HERE!_ For a brief second, Naruto closed his eyes, remaining absolutely still.

**BOOM**! The fireball exploded spectacularly, the heat making the front rows flinch backwards, the force of the jutsu blowing a hole through the platform itself. Realizing that Naruto was dead, the crowd gave a rousing cheer before a blur shot upwards out of the smoke.

"There!" Some shouted. As people began to look up, they saw the singed and smoking form of a very much alive Naruto Uzumaki. "Run!" Some shrieked in terror. "Kill him!" Others screamed. In the span of a few seconds, the crowd that had once been so confident devolved into a terrified, screaming, and crying crush of hysteria.

"How did he escape?" Danzo barked furiously at the ANBU beside him, his voice cutting through the screams of the crowd.

"I don't know, sir." The ANBU turned briefly toward his commander. "Perhaps it wa–" Suddenly, he fell over dead as two chunks of wood lodged themselves in the back of his head, killing him instantly. Danzo blanched as he realized that they had been meant for him.

"Call for reinforcements!" He ordered his troops. "And kill Uzumaki!" Danzo then beat a hasty retreat, using the crowd around him for cover. Uzumaki on the loose was not good.

Naruto landed on a rooftop, the rage burning within him, the injuries on his body gone. "I'll kill you, Danzo!" He yelled out, scanning the crowd for any hint of Danzo before he was beset by three ANBU. Cursing, Naruto tore his gaze away from the crowd and defended himself. Finding a gap in the attacks, Naruto jumped up to a higher rooftop, hoping to gain a better position. Suddenly, an ANBU either braver or stupider than the rest, gave a battle cry and rushed forward, hoping to distinguish himself by striking the killing blow.

Naruto scoffed and raised his arm, almost casually deflecting the blow aimed for his head. Like lightning, his fist shot out and shattered the ANBU's throat. Naruto stepped back from the gagging, choking, and dying body. Naruto took a defensive position, noting the jonin that had joined the battle as well.

Seeing their comrade taken out so easily, the Konoha nin all formed a wary circle around their quarry. "Who's next?" Naruto gestured with his palm, taunting the ANBU.

"Stay back!" One ANBU yelled out. "Look at his eyes! He's in sage mode! That's how he escaped so easily!" The others all tensed up. They had heard about Naruto and Jiraiya-sama's special Sage Mode. It was indeed formidable, especially since they couldn't use ninjutsu for risk of injuring the mob running about in the streets below.

The ANBU gave a quick glance at each other before nodding subtly. Too bad the orders were to kill Uzumaki. Trying to mask his movements, one behind Naruto began forming seals. "Are you crazy?!" the jonin next to him yelled. "There's people down there!"

Naruto's eyes became slits as he turned his head, realizing what the ANBU were going to do.

The ANBU cursed. "You foo-" Like greased lightning, Naruto feinted to his left, causing all the ninja to jump into action anticipating his move.

Naruto suddenly turned on a dime, launching himself at the other side of the circle. Grabbing the ANBU who was halfway through his jutsu, Naruto spun the body around in a circle above his head like a human shield before throwing the ANBU up and savagely kicking the man away from the group, sending him flying across the rooftops before smashing into a wall.

Giving a growl of anger, Naruto engaged the rest of the ninja, blocking, countering, trying to land successful blows, but they all worked too well as a team. Growling in frustration, Naruto then made a hand seal, quickly drawing upon his chakra, before disappearing in a flash of yellow.

"Where'd he go?!" A jonin cried out in alarm.

"That's the Yondaime's Hiraishin jutsu!" Another older jonin exclaimed.

"Then–" A younger jonin began.

"The one he kicked away!" An ANBU grunted. Looking at each other, they all leapt away in that direction, hoping to find the fugitive known as Naruto Uzumaki and bring him to justice.

Naruto breathed a sigh of relief when he found himself being pulled back into real time next to the body of the ANBU he had kicked away. The one who was willing to sacrifice innocents in the crowd to kill him. "Sorry, but I'm not sorry." He mumbled under his breath, before turning the corpse over and removed the seal.

Shrugging off the disorientation he felt whenever he used the Hiraishin, Naruto thought of the creator of the jutsu. "To use the Hiraishin so quickly, Dad must've been a real master with it," Naruto mumbled quietly. Then, sensing the approaching ninja with the last of his nature chakra, Naruto cursed and dashed away, doing his best to remain hidden in the shadows of the afternoon. All around him, he could hear the alarms of the village going off, ninja scrambling to find the missing fugitive.

It would only be a matter of time till the sensors and the more skilled jonin caught up with him. _I __have to get out of the village_, Naruto thought grimly. _I can only stay hidden for so long. I need a diversion…_

Scratching his chin, Naruto realized that he could make a good distraction. _I have two choices. Escape, or revenge. Perfect._

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Naruto whispered quietly as a doppelgänger poofed into existence. "You know what to do." It nodded before it whizzed off.

"Ok. There'll definitely be guards at the gate. These guys aren't idiots. But hopefully, my diversion will distract some of them at least." After several close calls, Naruto secreted himself inside one of the shops adjacent to the main road leading into Konoha. The main gate was only a fifty feet away. It was being guarded by at least fifty ninja.

Naruto knew it was risky, but he dispersed the vestiges of nature chakra in his body before creating a chakra suppression seal on himself. He didn't want to risk any sensors getting a hint of his real location. Now it was a gamble as to whether his distraction would clear the gate or not.

One minute. Two minutes. A bead of sweat rolled down Naruto's forehead as the anxiety began to set in. Three minutes. Then suddenly, a huge explosion rocked the village.

"The Hoakge's Tower is under attack. It must be Uzumaki! Let's go!" One of the brasher ninja yelled out before sprinting in the direction of the smoke. His action was the catalyst for the rest of the ninja follow, despite the captain trying to exert his authority.

"No! Stay here! It could just be a distraction, you fools!" The captain's shouts went unheeded as the sounds of battle near the Hokage Tower increased.

"Uh-oh," Naruto whispered in his hiding spot. He had just received the memories from his clone, meaning that it had been destroyed. He had to act fast. Tearing off the chakra restrictors, Naruto calmed himself and stood absolutely still, drawing in the nature chakra to him.

It had been risky to draw upon nature chakra when he was still bound, as he his chakra had been sealed. Without access to his own chakra, the nature chakra had threatened to overwhelm him, but thankfully, his chakra rushed back at just the right time, balancing out even the small dosage he had drawn in.

Now, though, there was no such danger, Naruto thought grimly as he drew in more than just a small burst, drawing in as much nature chakra as his body could balance with his normal stores. It was more than most jonin would ever be able to balance.

Naruto opened his eyes, which were rimmed with orange and had rectangular pupils. None too soon too, as one of the kunoichi cried out urgently to the remaining fifteen or so ninja, "He's here! He's in that building. Get ready!"

Naruto cursed. Of course someone in the group would be a sensor. Throwing caution to the wind, Naruto punched his way through the wall and burst through the dust in a terrifying rush toward the small group of shinobi. He had maybe seconds before reinforcements showed up.

Forming the tiger seal, Naruto took a deep breath. "**Fire Style: Fire Breathing Jutsu!**"

Unleashing a torrent of flames at the group, he was glad to see a few of the skittish ones jump away early. Naruto had wanted to sneak past the group quietly, but time wouldn't permit him. That was okay, though, since big explosions were one of Naruto's favorites.

Drawing chakra into his palm, Naruto let the the sage energy fuel his jutsu, empowering beyond imagination. "**Senpou**!" He cried out. "**Giant Rasengan!**" Speeding up even more, Naruto thrust his hand toward the opposing ninja, and incidentally, the gate behind them.

"Get out of the way!" The captain ordered, trying to form a makeshift earth barrier to stop Naruto's jutsu.

None of the other ninja needed to be told twice. Naruto smirked as he felt the chakra signatures between him and the gate disperse. Then speeding up even more, Naruto tore through the captain's Earth Jutsu and right into the massive Gates of Konoha.

For a split second, the gates shuddered and remained in place, before blasting open, giving Naruto an escape route.

"So long, suckers!" Naruto yelled out before leaping through the gates. In midair, Naruto turned, forming a seal even as his momentum sent him skidding backwards. "**Earth Style, Stone Barrier!"** Naruto cried as he slammed his hands into the ground. As before, fueled by the natural energy, Naruto's jutsu burst forth spectacularly, a huge stone barrier shooting from the ground and blocking the huge gateway of Konoha.

Naruto chuckled grimly, knowing that his jutsu would hold his pursuers at bay only for a short while. Turning away, Naruto leapt into the woods bordering the main path to Konoha. When Naruto felt that he was a good distance away, the blonde ninja made hand seal, seeking for a familiar chakra. When he couldn't find it, he gave a silent curse.

_Konoha has a barrier seal around it. And it's stronger than my Hiraishin seal. That's a first._ Naruto cursed again as he thought about how his predicament. _Look's like it's the old fashioned way. I've got to make it past the barrier by foot._

Suddenly, Naruto heard faint rumblings in the distance. For the umpteenth time that day, Naruto found reason to curse. "They've gotten past my jutsu. That was fast. Only 40 seconds."

Sighing, Naruto channeled more chakra to his feet as he shot forward like a bullet, hoping to pass the barrier before the ANBU caught up with him. He didn't want to get in a fight just yet.

Meanwhile, back at Konoha, several teams of chunin and jonin had already been established, each ready for their mission. Naruto Uzumaki was a dangerous missing nin. They had orders to bring him back dead or alive, preferably alive. After all, the Hokage was still alive. Naruto Uzumaki could still be a useful shinobi for Konoha.

As the jonin captains briefed their individual teams, other special ANBU teams had formed. Each team wore special masks different than the regular ANBU. Nobody outside of ANBU would have been able to tell the difference, because the main difference was a very subtle but dangerous one. Each of these special ANBU was incredibly loyal to their leader – not the Hokage, but Danzo Shimura. They glanced at each other, ignoring the other shinobi around them. No words were needed. They had their orders.

As one, the entity known as Root dispersed, chasing after the missing nin as Naruto Uzumaki. They had a rogue asset to put down.

* * *

Naruto was in a bad situation. He had passed the barrier before any of the ANBU squads had caught up with him, and as soon as he was able, he flashed to the nearest safehouse. It was in fact the first and only functioning safehouse he had set up in the Land of Fire when he first went out training with Jiraiya. But it had been compromised somehow.

Naruto was sure that he had activated the camouflage seals and chakra disruption seals to prevent discovery, but those ANBU had found him like vultures looking for a corpse. Naruto had let himself become careless, as he hadn't bothered maintaining his sage chakra. His attackers had appeared out of nowhere, assaulting his hideout with several high-powered jutsus. If Naruto hadn't reinforced the place with his seals, he was sure that he would've been squashed like a bug. It was only by pure luck that he had been able to catch the group off guard and escape in a plethora of shadow clones. Each ANBU had been forced to follow a different clone since they didn't know which was the original, but although Naruto had escaped for the moment, his chakra stores were ridiculously low.

Naruto drew in as much natural chakra as he could, but with his chakra stores so low as a result of his mass of shadow clones, Naruto could only balance out so much. Naruto cursed as he felt more and more jonin and chunin catching up. He didn't want to kill any Konoha nin. Well… Danzo's ANBU were an exception as they were less than human anyway, but the others, they were once his comrades. He couldn't kill them. Naruto growled before turning toward Wave Country and the direction of his nearest safehouse.

Then, Naruto cursed again. Most of his clones had run off in that direction. That meant that if he traveled to Wave Country, he could easily be caught in a pincer movement. _That means I have to go to __either Waterfall, Wind, or Lightning Country_, Naruto thought with a sense of despair. That meant he would have to turn around in a wide circle. That meant even more time in Fire Country. Time that would be very dangerous.

_I have to get in range of my Hiraishin seals, or I'm dead_, Naruto thought as he sped off through the trees, not caring who saw or heard him. Speed was of the utmost importance. Naruto kept traveling well into the night, well after he had come out of several battles, well after hunger and cold had begun to gnaw into his bones.

Over time, Naruto sensed the ANBU blocking off his path to Lightning Country, and the Konoha nin blocking his path to Wind Country. It looked like that it would be Waterfall Country after all. Naruto changed his angle of direction so he would run into the jonin before the ANBU. If it came down to it, Naruto preferred to deal with opponents with skills specialized in areas other than killing.

Naruto could only thank the fact that he hadn't seen or had to seriously harm anybody he knew yet. Somehow, they were all outside of the village on missions.

Naruto cursed Danzo for putting him in this situation. The old man had set him up, he was sure of it now. Danzo was the one who found Naruto standing over Tsunade, a kunai poised to slit her throat, but wavering. Naruto cursed again.

Someone had taken over his body! It was only thanks to the fox that Naruto was able to even gain control again, but that only made things worse since a little bit of the fox's chakra leaked out onto the village. The whole of Konoha went into a mini-panic as everybody was reminded of the day the Kyuubi nearly destroyed all of Konoha.

By the time Naruto reasserted control, it was already too late as Danzo had found him and had him immediately arrested. Naruto was sure now that Danzo somehow was behind the assassination attempt.

_I will clear my name_, Naruto thought determinedly. _And I'll have my revenge, even if it's the last thing I do._ Naruto thought to back to his village, to Konoha. He had wanted to be Hokage one day, to earn the people's respect.

And Tsunade-baa-chan. Naruto remembered his clone sensing her chakra signature in the hospital as he snuck past. She felt so weak and fragile lying in that bed, not at all like her normal self.

_Danzo must have poisoned her or something to even let me get that close!_ Naruto thought angrily. Suddenly, he was broken out of his thoughts as a group of jonin came barreling down on him. It was a flurry of blows and blocks before Naruto emerged victorious yet again, but this time with even more scrapes and cuts on his body.

Naruto could feel his nature chakra running extremely low. He hadn't stopped to refill his stores and Naruto was wishing that he stopped at least to draw in a little more. But through his ragged breaths, Naruto looked up at the stars in the night sky and realized that he was almost at the border. Putting on another burst of speed, Naruto was alarmed to sense a group approaching him at a very rapid speed. Dashing toward the tree line, Naruto could sense Waterfall Country in the distance. He would be able to make it!

With a final burst of speed, Naruto leapt away from the tree line, landing in a heap as his body literally collapsed under him. As he pushed himself up, Naruto glanced back up into the trees, surprised to see a group of jonin pause at the border line. For whomever was in charge of Konoha at the moment, it would have been a bad political decision to send any sort of armed forces across the border without explanation.

Naruto was also surprised to see Kakashi-sensei among the jonin present. The two made eye contact and a silent message of trust was passed. Naruto knew that Kakashi would reserve judgement until he heard Naruto's side of the story.

With a subtle wave, Naruto backed away from the Fire Country border

Leaving his trust in Kakashi, Naruto trudged onward into Waterfall Country, still wary for any ANBU foolish enough to try to spark an international incident.

It was nearly sunrise when Naruto came into range of his seal. Grimacing, Naruto closed his eyes and concentrated, flashing away a second later to small shelter hidden away in a cliffside. Using his chakra, Naruto activated the locking mechanism on the camouflaged door, revealing a thin pass for a person to enter through. Squeezing tiredly through with a painful wheeze, Naruto collapsed onto the cool floor as he relocked the door.

Sunlight filtered through a crack in the ceiling, affording Naruto a small light. Spying the bed, Naruto made his way over and crumpled gratefully onto the mattress. Sleep.

* * *

When Naruto woke, the sun was beginning to set. Naruto groaned before getting off of the mattress. Every bone in his body seemed to be bruised, as every single nerve in his body seemed to scream in painful protest. Moving over to the wash basin that was stocked with clean water, Naruto stripped himself and washed his body from the grime of the night.

He grimaced when he thought of everything that had happened. He had been framed for attempted murder. He was unfairly tried, and he was almost executed. He had killed Konoha ANBU. He had been hunted and on the run for an entire night. But now, he was free…

As Naruto washed the dirt off of his body, he realized that he was indeed a different person. He was no longer Naruto Uzumaki, future Hokage of Konoha. Now, he was Naruto Uzumaki… missing nin. Naruto felt a hint of despair at that. All of his dreams were now gone. He was a criminal. He would never be Hokage. He would never gain the respect of the village.

Naruto looked at his black forehead protector. He grimaced, before sighing and picking up a kunai and forcing his body to commit to the action. In what seemed like an eternity, Naruto let a single scratch run through the Leaf symbol on his hitai-ite. It felt like the kunai was cutting through his heart.

_My name is Naruto Uzumaki… missing nin._

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**A/N:** So, this was a plot bunny that has really been bothering my lately. Super-powered Naruto?Yeah… I needed to write something like that. At least once. This is it. Please read and leave a review on the story. Cheers!

**A/N 2**: So I re-edited this chappie to hopefully amp up the drama factor. I hope I didn't totally botch it since I actually need Naruto in Waterfall as opposed to Wind. For the sake of speeding up the plot. So please review everybody! Even a few words, criticism or encouragement is more than enough to keep me going. Cheers!


	2. Chapter 2: Missing Nin

Chapter 2: Missing Nin

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Naruto's eyes opened to a light shining in his eyes. Groaning, the blonde raised an arm to block out the light. He felt stiff all over. _Where am I?_

Suddenly, it hit him like lightning. The trial. The almost-execution. The hunt. The escape. Glancing around for his hitai-ite, Naruto sighed and closed his eyes sadly when he saw it. The scratch. So he really was a missing nin.

FLASHBACK:

Naruto stood over Tsunade, Fifth Hokage of Konoha, a kunai gripped tightly in his hands, the blade poised over her throat. Naruto's eyes widened before he dropped the weapon and jumped backwards. "What the-"

"Arrest him!" A voice cried out. "He tried to kill the Hokage!" It was then that Naruto realized that there was a huge hole in the side of Tsunade's office. The office itself looked like it had been ransacked. What the heck?!

Suddenly, binders were placed around Naruto's wrists and a chakra suppression seal slapped on his wrists. Naruto suddenly felt weak as his knees gave out underneath him. "Wait…" He groaned out as unconsciousness overtook him. "It wasn't me…"

Naruto distinctly saw a harsh face look down at him before it scoffed. "Take him away."

FLASHBACK END:

Naruto growled bitterly as he realized how taken off guard he was by waking up to his kunai poised to his baa-chan's throat. All he remembered was feeling the fox's chakra unleashing itself. He was trying to wake up and take back control, but it felt like he was swimming in quicksand. But Naruto had forced himself to wake up… and wake up he did at the right time but the wrong place.

"I'll get you for this!" Naruto yelled out to the walls. As the tears of anger poured out, Naruto rolled out of his cot, landing roughly on the ground, his arms flexed against the cold hard ground.

FLASHBACK:

"**AAAGGH! Stop! Please!**" Naruto cried out as the interrogator passed another current of lightning through him. "I've told you everything! I'm innocent!"

The interrogator only shook his head. "Since it seems like you don't want to tell the truth, it looks like I'll have to go even further."

Naruto's labored breathing grew even more erratic as he struggled against the chains holding him in place, trying to place as much distance as possible between the torturer and himself. All he could see was the evil grin of the interrogator, as if he was enjoying this.

Then the screaming began.

FLASHBACK END:

Naruto's body shuddered and nearly began convulsing as the memories washed over him. Crying to himself, Naruto let the memories pass and let go of the pain and scars on his mind. Eventually, the tears stopped.

Naruto pushed himself back up, propping his back against the cold wall of the cave with a wracking breath. As his breathing slowed, Naruto's eyes became steely hard. He would not forget the face of the man who had interrogated him. His day of reckoning would come.

Naruto slammed his fists against the wall, venting all of his emotions out on the wall behind him. When he was done, there was a spiderweb of cracks lining the cave wall. Naruto looked at the wall and frowned. _I'm beginning to sound like Sasuke_. _I shouldn't walk down that path_, Naruto thought to himself.

Pulling himself up, Naruto painfully washed the effects of sleep away from his body. Naruto reached for the spare set of clothing he normally kept in his safehouse, but then noticed that he had left a set of ninja armor behind in this hideout.

Naruto remembered his first kill while he was training with ero-sennin. This was the armor that had saved him in that encounter. How ironic that the person this armor had helped him kill was a missing nin. That day on, Naruto had told himself that he wouldn't kill unless it was absolutely necessary. Now though, Naruto was so angry, he wasn't sure he would be able to keep that promise.

Donning the black slacks and shirt that went with the light gray armor, Naruto looked at himself. Armor covered his forearms, his shins, his shoulders, and his torso. Stretching his limbs, Naruto acclimated himself to his new armament. Feeling for the hidden kunai and shuriken pouches littered throughout the armor, Naruto gave a subdued grin. Those could be useful.

Stocking up on supplies, food, and anything else he would need, Naruto left the safehouse and glanced back once at the place that had kept him safe throughout the night. He had been sloppy in coming to this hideout. People would be able to see traces of his stay here all over. He had to destroy it.

Turning his back, Naruto made a quick hand seal before jumping away. A small explosion rocked the ground as everything inside the safehouse was incinerated, leaving behind nothing but dust. Naruto Uzumaki was never here.

Naruto took a second to revel in the silence that surrounded him. Holding up his headband, Naruto gazed once more at the scratch that ran through the symbol of Konoha. The leaf. Naruto felt a pang in his heart as he thought of Iruka-sensei, the one who taught him the meaning of the symbol. Naruto's breathing further increased as he thought of the other nine rookie genin who had graduated along with him. Naruto thought of Team 7, Kakashi-sensei, Sakura… and Sasuke.

Naruto realized that everything he had had while he was in Konoha was now gone. He had to cut it off. Burying his emotions deep in his heart, Naruto forced his eyes to grow cold. He would not think about Konoha like that anymore. It had turned its back on him, so now, he was going to return the favor. Strapping on his hitai-ite, Naruto knew, though, that he would never truly be able to hate Konoha. He still thought of it as his home, even if it no longer wanted him.

Then Naruto thought of ero-sennin and baa-chan. A lone tear made its way from his eye down his cheek. Those two had helped him so much, and now, he was leaving them. Baa-chan was almost dead, and ero-sennin, he was who knows where on some secret mission for the Konoha council.

All at once, Naruto felt a burning hatred for the village that he had once loved so much. It had taken away everything from him. But suddenly, that hatred washed away, and Naruto felt only sadness. If he could have, Naruto would have returned in a heartbeat. It was his home.

But he couldn't. Not with people like Danzo in charge. Naruto had to find a way to clear his name first. Naruto turned himself toward the general location of the Village Hidden Among the Waterfalls. If Jiraiya had taught him anything, it was that information was the lifeblood of a ninja.

Naruto forced himself to remain calm. _I need a plan_. Naruto thought about Takigakure. He would definitely need to visit the village first to gain his bearings. Then, he could make his way to Wave, his original destination. He had to warn Old Man Tazuna. Naruto didn't want his friends being caught up in something that they had no part in. Even more so Tazuna and his family, since they were the only civilians he knew outside of Konoha.

Making a hand seal, Naruto searched for the seals he had hidden along the way during his escape from Fire Country. He could still feel the closest one just outside the edge of his sensory field. The seals were too well hidden for anybody to find deliberately. The only way anybody would find them was stumbling across them accidentally.

_Try to account for every possibility_, Naruto heard Jiraiya's teachings come back to him. _Chance sometimes does its best to screw you over._ Naruto chuckled grimly. "It sure does."

So it was to Taki first, then he would Flash his way over to Wave to warn Tazuna, then… what? After that, Naruto had no idea what he would do. It wasn't like he was striving for Hokage or anything like that anymore. Then Naruto thought again of his friends, and he knew what he had to do.

_After that, I'll grow stronger. I'll grow stronger to protect my friends, so that none of them have to face what I'm facing._ Naruto realized that he now had a goal. _But how am I going to get stronger? And more importantly, who are my friends?_

FLASHBACK:

"Hey, ero-sennin!" Naruto whined out. "When are you going to teach me more super-powerful jutsu like the Rasengan?"

Jiraiya sighed in frustration. They had had this discussion way too many times. "Brat, I've told you. Don't call me ero-sennin. It's not appropriate for someone of my stature. Secondly, I've told you this before, the power of your techniques doesn't determine a ninja's strength. It's how you use what techniques you have that determine your strength."

"Yeah, yeah," Naruto said flippantly, "But I still want to learn some of your super-powerful jutsus!"

Jiraiya growled. "Kid! I'm already teaching you the basics of fuinjutsu and senjtusu! Against the wishes of the Toads, I might add. What more do you want?!"

Naruto was silent for a while, realizing that Jiraiya was really asking him a serious question. "I want to learn my dad's jutsu. The one you keep talking about. The one that made him the Yellow Flash."

Jiraiya gave Naruto a hard look. "I'll teach you what I know about it when you show me you're ready."

Naruto thought about it. That was about as good as he going to get from Jiraiya, he knew. "By the way, ero-sennin. If tou-san showed you how his jutsu worked, how come _you_ don't use it?" Naruto asked curiously.

It took a while for the sage to gather his thoughts and form a response. "First of all kid, it's not my style. I'm what you could call a heavy hitter, a combat style left over from wartime. By the time I was actually able to make your dad's jutsu work, I was too old to integrate something new into my combat style."

Naruto made a face. "That's not such a great excuse. If somebody put their mind to something, they could probably do anything they wanted."

Jiraiya scoffed. "Yeah. I don't think so, brat. Besides, when your father showed me the inner workings of his jutsu, At the time, I was one of two people in the world who were privy to that information. The other was your mother."

"Tou-san showed kaa-san?! That's so cool! Did she learn how to use it too? You said the Uzumaki were seal masters, right?" Naruto asked excitedly.

Jiraiya gave another thoughtful pause. "The Uzumaki gained that reputation through the sheer strength and ingenuity of their more destructive seals. They were specialists, so they wouldn't have studied every single intricate detail of sealing. Your father did."

Naruto gazed at his sensei with rapt attention, waiting for the white-haired man to continue.

"Even the best of their seal 'masters,' couldn't really compare to your father. Your mother herself was only mediocre with utilizing seals herself. She was quick with them, though, and was able to grasp the basics of Minato's jutsu rather quickly. Quicker than me, in fact."

Naruto's chest puffed with pride. His parents really were something else.

"Anyways, back to your original question, I didn't use his jutsu simply because it was beyond me at the time. On top of that, he didn't show me everything either. This was your dad's original and perhaps most dangerous jutsu." Jiraiya gave Naruto a hard look to make sure the teen understood just how powerful the Hiraishin could be. Jiraiya was pleased to see that Naruto only nodded, a hopeful sign of the boy's growing maturity.

"Now you are going to be the last person with the full knowledge of the Hiraishin, the jutsu that made your dad famous. Only your dad's personal guards at the time knew how to activate the jutsu, but they don't know nearly enough to use it in battle. You will."

Naruto beamed at his mentor when he heard that. "That's so cool, ero-sennin! I'm going to be so awesome!"

Jiraiya only rolled his eyes. "He showed me on the condition that I would be able to teach his kids should he and your mother ever fall in battle." Jiraiya paused to let what he had said sink in for Naruto.

"So… He knew that he was going to die?" Naruto asked, confused.

"Actually, no." Jiraiya said. "Nobody really knows when they're going to die. But Minato wanted to cover every single loose end. And that meant, even for a guy like him, there was a possibility that somebody could beat him."

"And that was the fox, huh?" Naruto asked sadly, looking down at his stomach where the Kyuubi was housed. He never felt lower than at that very moment.

"Yeah, but remember one thing, Naruto."

Naruto looked up suddenly at the sound of his name.

"It wasn't your fault. If anything, you're the reason the whole village isn't dead, because I know your father would've never sealed the thing into somebody unable to handle such a burden."

Naruto smiled a smile full of happiness, sadness, and hope all mixed together. This was one of the most serious discussions he had ever had with Jiraiya. "So…"

"He loved you, Naruto. Both of your parents did. Always will. Don't ever doubt it."

Jiraiya saw Naruto's head bent down, still looking at the ground. He reached out a hand toward Naruto's shoulder, slightly concerned. But suddenly, Naruto jumped up, eyes tearing over, and he was bawling like the young kid he still was.

"I love them too! Even if I've never met them, they're in here," Naruto said, pointing to his heart. "And I'm gonna do them proud, believe it!"

Naruto whipped out a fuinjutsu teaching scroll Jiraiya had made for him and immediately set down the path, his head buried in his book.

Surprised in a good way, Jiraiya smiled as he thought about how similar Naruto was to Minato. He had hoped that he had made the right choice in telling Naruto about his father. Naruto may not have looked like it, but he was more mature than he let on sometimes.

"Ow!" Naruto suddenly cried out, as he tripped over a rock and fell flat on his nose.

Jiraiya palmed his face and shook his head. More mature in some things than others, that was for sure. "Watch where you're going, brat!" He admonished as he sauntered past his student.

Naruto just clutched his face as he lay groaning on the ground. "And keep moving! We're burning daylight!" Jiraiya called from further up the road. Naruto groaned again, trying to pull himself up.

"Come on, ero-sennin! Wait up!" Naruto called, rubbing his nose, racing to catch up.

Jiraiya sighed. These three years were going to be longer than he had predicted.

FLASHBACK END:

Naruto frowned as he remembered his training.

FLASHBACK:

"Come on, kid!" Jiraiya taunted. "You can do better than that! Think before you act!"

Naruto wheezed as he tried to catch his breath. Sparring with ero-sennin was less like training and more like a full on battle.

"Don't just mob me with shadow clones! Use them smartly to save your chakra. Just because you have a lot doesn't mean it's limitless!"

Naruto grunted in frustration, wishing that ero-sennin had moved beyond the staying still part in his senjutsu training. Naruto yelled out his frustrations again before charging in, leaving Jiraiya both grinning and shaking his head.

When the fight – more like a one sided beatdown – was over, Naruto was covered in bruises while Jiraiya still looked relatively fresh. It had only been an hour.

"Alright, brat. What you just did out there today…" Naruto looked up expectantly, expecting praise or something. "Was a complete waste of my time."

"What?!" Naruto exclaimed.

"If you keep attacking blindly like that, expecting your clones to overpower your opponent, then I've taught you nothing. I'm trying to get it through your head that it's the way you use your jutsus that win the battle, not your jutsus themselves." Jiraiya stared hard at Naruto until his pupil was forced to turn away in shame, realizing that the entire time, he had been blindly rushing in.

Jiraiya nodded, satisfied that his message had gotten through. "Until you refine your battle strategies, I won't bother sparring with you again. If you waste my time like you did today, I'll leave you stranded in the next town we stay at, got it?"

Naruto nodded diminutively, vowing to get not only stronger, but smarter. "Read a lot."

"Huh?"

"Read a lot," Jiraiya repeated. "Reading stretches your imagination in countless ways. It'll help your strategy."

Naruto nodded. He made a mental note to buy some scrolls at the next town they stopped at. Then something landed at his feet. He reached down to pick it up. It was a copy of _Icha Icha_. "The heck?! You want me to read your smut?!" Naruto cried out. He noticed that Jiraiya was no longer quite as serious.

"Well," the old pervert began with a lecherous grin, "It'll certainly help your imagination!"

"Ero-sennin! You perverted bastard!" Naruto yelled, before hurling the book at his teacher.

Jiraiya easily dodged and shrugged. "Your loss. I'm headed into town to do more research." Naruto rolled his eyes, scoffing, knowing just what kind of research that would be. "I want you to stay here and practice those elemental jutsus I showed you."

Naruto nodded, watching the back of his teacher as it strode away, down the hill into town. "I won't let you down, ero-sennin," Naruto whispered into the darkening sky.

FLASHBACK END:

Those had been some hard months, but Naruto had improved by leaps and bounds. _Sure, ero-sennin was a hard teacher, but he was the first teacher to spend so much time helping me like that_. Naruto definitely became a better ninja for it.

Finally, after Naruto had curbed his questions long enough and showed a sufficient mastery of fuinjutsu, Jiraiya had finally deemed Naruto ready to learn the Hiraishin. He had been so excited for that first day of training. Then Naruto learned that for the next two weeks, he would be learning how to sense seals from a distance. Proportionally, that training was the most boring and difficult he had ever had.

Finally, Jiraiya had allowed Naruto to try to simply activate the Hiraishin, not even teleporting. Naruto flexed his hand unconsciously. He had almost lost his arm to an inter-dimensional warp the first time he had activated the jutsu after another two long weeks of practice.

But learn the Hiraishin he did. During that training, Naruto felt closer to his father than he had ever felt before. He had asked ero-sennin so many questions about his parents, and there were so many awesome stories. Naruto just couldn't get enough.

It took him the better part of a year, but Naruto had finally managed to teleport short distances. It took another half year to perfect his chakra control while using the technique. According to ero-sennin, his chakra control was still crap, but it was pretty good, considering how large his reserves were. But finally, Naruto could teleport with minimal loss to his chakra reserves.

During that entire time, Naruto had worked hard with Jiraiya to increase his speed. In order to utilize the Hiraishin to its fullest, Naruto knew that his reflexes had to be razor sharp, as fast as light.

Naruto still marveled at how much Jiraiya had taught him in those three years. A lot of material had seemed very trivial while he was still trying to learn it, but Naruto realized that he was a lot stronger now than when he first started training with ero-sennin. It was because of those small exercises that had honed his all of his skills to a razor sharp point.

Naruto smiled as he thought of Jiraiya. "You're like a second dad to me, ero-sennin." Naruto paused as he thought about that. "Ok, maybe more like a granddad." Naruto grinned. He would probably get hit over the head later when he told the old pervert.

Then the pain was back as Naruto thought about everything Konoha had come to mean for him. The people who had become his family. Naruto steeled himself against the emotions threatening to burst forth from behind his fragile mask of calm. Naruto sighed and began the long trek toward Takigakure.

_I am a ninja. I am Naruto Uzumaki… missing nin._

* * *

**A/N:** A setup chapter for Naruto's new look, his new emotions, his new life. If anybody noticed, I ended this chapter much the same way as the last, but on different note. One of determination as opposed to desperation. I hope this wasn't too rushed though. Leave a review and let me know what you think. As always, I love getting reviews. Cheers!

**A/N 2:** Added in a whole bunch of stuff to this chappie. Hope you like it. Re-edit to reflect the student-teacher relationship between Jiraiya and Naruto.


	3. Chapter 3: Information

Chapter 3: Information

* * *

"Remember Naruto, whenever you're trying to gather information, you can't let others know that you are gathering info," Jiraiya said sagely, closing his eyes and nodding his head as if to infuse his words with further sagely wisdom. Then he opened his eyes to see Naruto's back. The brat was looking at that comic book shop. He wasn't even looking at a girl! Unforgivable!

"Hey brat!" Jiraiya suddenly yelled, forcing Naruto to crane his head in the teacher's direction. "Were you even paying attention to what I said?!"

Naruto smirked. "Don't let others know you're listening?"

Jiraiya's eye twitched briefly. "I don't mean now, you ungrateful, disrespectful brat!" Jiraiya then thumped Naruto soundly on the head.

"Ow!" Naruto cried, rubbing the lump that was already growing. "Why'd you do that, ero-sennin?! I was just practicing what you said!"

"I said when you're gathering information, not when your great and wise teacher is trying to impart some words of wisdom for you!" Jiraiya yelled at his pupil. Sometimes the boy was very dense.

Naruto looked sheepish, then suddenly got wide eyed as a lightbulb dinged on in his head. "Wait… I get it now, ero-sennin!"

"Get what?" Jiraiya grumbled. "And don't call me ero-sennin!"

"That's how you gather information!" Naruto cried, as if it all suddenly made sense.

"What?"

"You gather information when you peep on women! That's what you do when you do your 'research,'" Naruto exclaimed. "You're such a big pervert because it's your job!"

Jiraiya's mouth dropped open. Then suddenly it snapped shut as he thought of how easy it would be to convert Naruto, now that he had him in his grasps. If only Minato had been this naïve. "Yes, of course, Naruto," Jiraiya said silkily. "If that's what you think. Let's head over to the hot springs and I'll show you my greatest techniques right now." Jiraiya moved to throw an arm around Naruto's shoulders, but was surprised when Naruto suddenly scooted away and pointed his finger accusingly at his sensei.

"You _are_ trying to make me a pervert!" Naruto exclaimed angrily. "Do you think I'm stupid, or what?! You big pervert! Do you really think that _I'd_ think that you gather real information when you're peeping?! The only information you'd gather is for that crappy smut you write!"

Jiraiya seemed shocked for a moment. So Naruto really wasn't that naïve. Then, he leaned towards Naruto angrily, his eyes burning with fire. "You little brat! You know nothing about my honorable line of work! The trials I face! The tribulations I must overcome!"

"Yeah, yeah," Naruto said, brushing off Jiraiya's comments. "You're still just an old pervert."

"Alright brat! You asked… for… it…" Jiraiya trailed off as his eyes trailed toward an apparition of beauty walking by.

"Wha-" Naruto's jaw suddenly hit the floor as he saw her. "Whoa! She's prettier than Sakura!" Then Naruto blanched as he realized the last time he had said that had been about Haku. Eck!

"Alright brat, lesson number one about information gathering. Look where you're not looking," Jiraiya began, his eyes still intently peeled on the clingy dress the woman was wearing.

Naruto glanced hesitatingly at his sensei, half of him wanting to beat the crap out of Jiraiya, the other really wanting to hear what he had to say. In the end, it was an easy decision for Naruto, and thus began Naruto Uzumaki's long descent into the ways of the pervert.

* * *

Naruto awoke slowly. He smiled when the memories came back to him. Ero-sennin had tried his very hardest to transform him into a super pervert, but Naruto fought him the whole way. There was part of Naruto that knew that he would never be forgiven if he gave in completely. Oh, it was hard sometimes, but Naruto figured that an almost pervert was much safer than being a super-pervert.

He had a… healthy appreciation for the opposite sex now, and thankfully, he had less bruises than Jiraiya would ever have. Then again, his innocent boyish looks may have had something to do with that.

Naruto grinned as he realized that through all those lessons, Jiraiya was subtly laying down the groundwork for his stealth skills. Naruto remembered Jiraiya's so-called test: Evading the cautious eyes of a woman whose pervert sense was tingling.

When Naruto looked back on it now, he had to roll his eye at Jiraiya's antics, but he had to admit that now more than ever, he missed ero-sennin's comforting, if somewhat goofy presence. He always seemed to know exactly what to do, in any situation really. Naruto sighed before throwing his out of his bed.

Naruto glanced once at the seal under his shoulder. It was a storage seal, but a pretty ingenious one, he thought. He had created it when Jiraiya had taught him about disguises. He wanted to be able to quickly change sets of clothing without actually taking anything off. The result was this seal, which allowed him to wear whatever set of clothing was stored in the seal immediately and without any hassle.

For now, to avoid suspicion, Naruto kept his armor stored away, ready to be summoned at a moment's notice. Unfortunately, that meant that practically all of his weapons would be hidden in the seal as well. For all intents and purposes, he was a civilian today.

Grabbing breakfast on the run, Naruto was only marginally disappointed to find that it wasn't ramen. Paying the fare for the room with the meager supply left in his safehouse, Naruto left the inn where he had stayed the night. He had infiltrated the Takigakure in the daylight yesterday, a time when the guards were least expecting it. Naruto thought back to Jiraiya's lessons. _People see what they want to see._

Naruto smiled. Jiraiya's teachings seemed to stick with him no matter where he went.

Naruto had decided to stay low for the first day to scout out territory. Today was the day he would begin collecting information. Naruto knew from his lessons with Jiraiya that Taki and Konoha had a fairly close relationship. A messenger had probably come or would be arriving sometime today to deliver important news. The news of Naruto Uzumaki's abandonment of his village no doubt.

_Not going there. Not going there._ Naruto thought to himself, locking away the thoughts behind a steel wall in his mind. Naruto could feel the fragility of his emotions whenever he thought about Konoha.

Shrugging aside the painful thoughts, Naruto found himself near the village head's house. A couple of ninja were milling around, gossiping in hushed tones. _Ninja like to gossip, just like anybody else_.

Naruto moved closer, remaining unobtrusive, neither trying to be inconspicuous or normal. Naruto just simply became another normal villager.

"Did you hear about Daisuke?" One guard said to his companion.

"No," she replied. "What happened?"

The two guards began gossiping about Daisuke, snickering every once in a while.

Naruto had to physically restrain the sigh that was threatening to escape his lips. He had forgotten how tedious this could be. Finding a nearby shop, Naruto sat down at one of the booths and ordered a bowl of ramen, pleasantly surprised to the find that the roomy shop offered ramen. Then, focusing chakra to his ears, Naruto activated a jutsu that Jiraiya had developed specially for his spying. The Hearing Enhancement jutsu.

In all honesty, it had been Orochimaru who had first developed the jutsu, later to be utilized in his new Hidden Village, Otogakure. _But_, Jiraiya had reasoned,_ it was a useful jutsu_, a sentiment that Naruto wholeheartedly agreed with. Then, after about twenty minutes or so of sipping on his ramen, something caught his ears.

"I heard something happened at Konoha just two days ago." The guard's tone was hushed. No civilian would have been able to hear it, but Naruto had learned both to read lips and enhance his hearing. It was almost as if he was standing next to them.

"What happened?"

"A merchant coming from Konoha was telling Hiro at the merchants' access point that some super-powerful ninja defected! They were gonna execute him for something, so he escaped and tried to kill the Hokage!"

Naruto grimaced. This was what happened when rumor was allowed to run rampant. Ero-sennin had drilled into him over and over again to get his information from as many sources as possible, as rumor always twisted the best of information.

"Word is, he's headed this way." The guard continued.

"Oh man, that's scary!" The other guard replied.

"I know," The female began, "But maybe he'll take out that demon."

The male gave a dark chuckle, before speaking in tones even more hushed than before. Naruto had to strain to hear. "You know we shouldn't talk about her. It's dangerous."

Naruto listened a little bit longer, but realized he was going to get no more information from these two. He had been lucky to get what he had. Nodding to the shopkeeper, Naruto paid his bill and left the shop at a leisurely pace, another normal civilian going about his day.

Naruto had a lot to think about. It seemed that people were already talking about his battle to escape Konoha. Word that Konoha has another missing nin on its hands could reach the other elemental nations very soon. Naruto realized that he would have to guard his identity very closely if he wanted to escape public notice for as long as possible. Even in small towns like this, word traveled fast.

Naruto then remembered back to when he had first found out who his father was and exactly what he had inherited from his father. _You know what? I'm not going to hide who I am. Let them find me. I'll show them who they're messing with._

Naruto knew it was dangerous going without a disguise, but heck, look at Itachi Uchiha. He was powerful enough that he didn't need a disguise.

Then Naruto thought about the other more interesting bit of information he received from his eavesdropping. Demon… That sounded too close to what he had suffered at one point. He had to find out more.

After hitting several more spots, he heard more gossip, but nothing pertaining to Konoha, himself, or this demon character. Whoever he was, Naruto wanted – no, needed – to meet with this person and tell him that he wasn't alone.

Then walking out of a shop, as Naruto was waving to the shopkeep, he wasn't paying attention to where he was going. Looking up, Naruto only had time to widen his eyes in shock as a mass ran right into him, bowling the both of them over.

Groaning, Naruto quickly pulled himself up the ground, hoping to offer his hand to whomever had knocked him over. He was surprised to find that he (she?) was already standing. She had on a gray short skirt and midriff-baring shirt, (she was pretty flat, Naruto commented unconsciously to himself) contrasting to the dark tan of her skin. She also had green hair, Naruto was surprised to note.

"Sorry about that," she said. Naruto knew then that she was a girl just from her voice. "I wasn't paying attention to where I was going."

Naruto was a little surprised to see the girl's eyes diverted, as if she were scared of something. Then, Naruto looked around at the people casting him subtle glances. Putting two and two together, Naruto realized that this girl must be the demon. She must be the Jinchuuriki.

"That's alright," He said. "I wasn't paying attention either."

The girl looked at him in shock. "You're not from around here, are you?"

"Um, no. I'm visiting family. Why do you ask?" Naruto cursed silently as he realized that he had just pegged himself as an outsider. He could have even given himself away as a ninja. None of the villagers would ever have talked to this girl, knowing who she is.

"Well, er… no reason," The girl said.

Naruto shrugged. "Well, like I said, no worries. Say, by the way, are you a gay?"

"Um… Excuse me?" The girl asked, clearly not understanding where this stranger was going with this train of thought.

"Well, it's just that I've never seen a guy who wears skirts and shirts like that." An image of Haku flashed through Naruto's mind before he buried it down deep.

The girl just stared at him for a second, trying to process what he had said. Naruto knew he was playing with fire. _Well, like ero-sennin always says, I just love trouble way too much_.

Suddenly, the girl exploded in righteous anger. Lifting her fist, she slammed down on Naruto, punching him down to the ground. "You think I'm a boy?!" She practically screamed. "I'm a girl, you idiot!"

Naruto twitched on the ground. Man, that girl hit hard, but he just couldn't stop. It was like baiting Kiba all over again. "But… You're so flat-chested…"

"AAARRGH!" She screamed, before burying her foot in Naruto's side. Giving another scream of frustration, she turned on her heel and stalked away, hoping to get out of range before she killed him. She didn't want to get in trouble over this idiot.

Naruto gasped before rolling over, shaking, trying to stop from laughing. All of the surrounding villagers were cowering in fear, but Naruto continued to shake with mirth.

Then, seeing that the girl was walking away, Naruto called out, "My name's Naruto, by the way."

The girl turned and gave him a frosty glare. "Well you're an idiot!" She said, before leaping away.

Naruto chuckled once more before getting up. He noticed an old man standing next to him. "Yes?" He asked, remaining polite.

"Son, I know you're not from around here, but let me tell you, that girl's bad news." Naruto could tell that the old man was genuinely concerned for him, but nonetheless, a part of Naruto felt cold towards this man and all the other villagers in this village.

"Really?" Naruto asked. "I don't know, I kinda like her."

The old man looked at Naruto as if he had grown a pair of horns. "If what she just did to you doesn't put any sense into your head, I don't know what will."

Naruto chuckled. "My godfather always said that I love trouble a little too much."

The old man only shook his head. "Son, just please take my word of advice. That girl's trouble with a capital T. You don't want to be hanging around her."

Naruto raised his eyebrow cockily. "Well, thanks, old man, but I think I can handle her."

The old man sighed before he resigned his arguments. "Fine then, young one, but don't say I didn't warn you."

"But I do have one question," Naruto said quickly. "Please tell me that you're not telling me all this because _you_ used to date her. That would just be... Eck!"

The old man glanced once more at Naruto, unsure of how to react to Naruto's disrespectful tone. Finally, he chose to simply ignore Naruto and huffed before walking away to attend to his business. "Young whippersnappers these days. Think they're on top of the world."

Naruto smiled sadly as he thought about these villagers. They were good people, but their biases and prejudices were just misdirected. Dusting himself off, Naruto continued on his way, always listening for more information.

Then, around evening time, walking near the outskirts of the village, Naruto noticed a group of guys picking on a girl. It was her.

"You're so pathetic!"

"You'll never be a good enough ninja!"

Naruto heard the titters and the jeers coming from the group, and noticed that the girl was doing nothing to defend herself. Sighing, Naruto knew that he had to say something.

"Hey, guys, leave her alone."

All of the bullies turned suddenly, assessing the newcomer. He didn't look so tough. He wasn't even a ninja.

The girl then stood up, her eyes blazing as she recognized Naruto. "I don't need your help! I can handle this myself!" Then, one of the bullies turned and shoved her roughly to the ground. "Stay out of this, girly! This guy asked for it."

Naruto raised his eyebrow at that. "Yeah? Well, the way you pick on gender confused guys, I'm not surprised that you think you could beat me."

All the boys looked confused for a second, then scowled, realizing that Naruto had just insulted them. They glanced at each other and as one, they gave a brutish yell and rushed at Naruto, who stood calmly, waiting for their attack. At the last second, a blur shot in front of him and blocked the first few punches. In the space of a few seconds, the bullies were on the ground, dazed, unsure of what had hit them.

Naruto raised an eyebrow, amused. "Not bad, but I could've handled them myself," He said, mirroring the girl's words before. She suddenly turned on him, her fist cocked back.

"Gender confused _guy_!" She screamed in his face. Naruto involuntarily took a step back.

"Wait, wait," he said placatingly, not wanting to get beat down like that afternoon. "I was just joking. I know you're a girl. I'm just messing with you."

She scowled before huffing in disgust. "Idiot," She muttered under her breath.

Naruto only gave an infuriatingly innocent grin. "So what's your name?"

The girl glared once more at him, making Naruto realize that her eyes were orange. A striking contrast to her green hair and darkish skin. Finally she spoke. "Fu."

Naruto's smile became gigawatt bright. "Nice to meet you, Fu. Name's Naruto."

"I remember," She grumbled as she pulled her hand away from Naruto's.

Naruto continued to grin. "What?!" Fu asked exasperatedly.

"You remembered my name," Naruto said cheerfully.

Fu gave him an _Are you mental?_ look. She just shook her head and backed away slowly. "Well, I'll see you around, 'kay Naruto?"

"Yup, see you around, Fu!" Naruto said, watching as Fu strode away. Finally alone, for the briefest of seconds, Naruto let the mask slide down around his emotions. He slumped onto the ground, contemplating what he had found out today. He was probably in Konoha's bingo book by now. He was going to be hunted. And he had found another Jinchuuriki. This could get interesting.

_Hmmm. Nice legs. She's kinda cute. _Naruto mused quietly. _Or she would've been, if she wasn't so flat-chested_. Naruto felt a shudder go down his spine as he realized what Fu would do to him if she heard him. Naruto could swear that Jiraiya was laughing at him, somewhere in the world.

"I hate you, ero-sennin."

* * *

**A/N:** Hey guys. So I know it seems that Naruto is a little too happy, considering he was just branded a traitor and missing nin, but my reasoning is that Naruto has had years upon years of masking his true emotions under his go lucky personality. Also, he's keeping it buried deep down. On top of that, he knows how to enjoy himself, even when he's sad, seeing as how he can usually bounce back pretty quickly. Review please!


	4. Chapter 4: Plans

Chapter 4: Plans

* * *

Naruto looked around his Wave Country safehouse. It was untouched, exactly as he remembered it when he and ero-sennin had left it. The young nukenin took half of the money in the safehouse and with one last look around, resealed the safehouse. When he got outside, Naruto looked up at the sky, noting the clouds that were rolling in, blocking out the sun. He really didn't want to get caught in this rain, so he would have to hurry.

Naruto silently made his way to the gravesite of Zabuza and Haku. Along the way, he passed by the Great Naruto Bridge. Naruto grinned as he remembered Jiraiya's reaction. "You had a bridge named after you?!" The old pervert had asked incredulously. Naruto had taken the time to maintain a smug air around him for the duration of their stay in Wave.

Finally, Naruto was broken out of his memories as he arrived at the gravesite. The sun was just beginning to set, and the light glinted dully off of Zabuza's great sword. Naruto was interested to see that the weather had eroded some of Zabuza's sword away. The handle was fine, but the blade was chipped, worn, and dull. At least no grave robbers had come to take the sword away.

The blonde felt a slight buzzing in the back of his head when he thought of the sword. Pushing it aside, Naruto thought about the first battles he had fought against the pair. They had been enemies, but they had taught him so much about what was truly important. "I'm a missing nin now, guys. Just like you two. Honestly, I don't even remember why you two became missing nin, but I do remember that you, Haku, told me that fighting for someone you love makes you stronger. I'm trying to take that to heart, but honestly, I don't know. It seems like I'm all alone now."

_Not quite true_, Naruto thought, his mind going to Fū, a Jinchuuriki just like him. "Anyways, I was in the area, so I thought I'd pay my respects. I'm stronger now." Naruto let the silence hang. He had nothing anymore to say. He only felt a sense of sadness as he realized just how much time had passed since his first true battle as a ninja, but Naruto also felt pride. He had indeed come a long way.

Naruto turned around and looked down the hill over the main town of the Land of Waves. It was a peaceful place, but still, Konoha could come here looking for him. It had only been fair for him to warn Tazuna and his family. It had been a heartwarming reunion for Naruto, but he placed a Hiraishin seal outside of the bridge-builder's house just in case. A premonition of things to come, Naruto attributed his actions to.

Suddenly, Naruto felt a disturbance in the seal he had placed by Tazuna's house. Naruto drew on his chakra before hesitating. He could be walking into a fight without knowing anything. Looking back at Zabuza's grave, Naruto felt that buzzing again. Without giving another thought, racing over, Naruto pulled the sword out of the ground and activated his seal. In a flash, he was in front of Tazuna's house, looking in. Naruto was alarmed to see that a group of ANBU were threatening Tazuna and his family.

"I have to protect them!" Naruto whispered. Racing over to the door, Naruto calmed himself. _The element of surprise is the most effective weapon against numbers. _Surprise would only be with him for a brief second. He had to time this perfectly. Coiling his legs, Naruto stood stock still like a loaded spring.

In an instant, the area around Naruto's eyes changed coloration. As if it were an unsaid signal, the blonde ninja jumped straight at the door, bulling through with his shoulder, landing in a ready stance in the middle of Tazuna's foyer. All eyes slowly turned toward the intruder.

Naruto had counted four ANBU. One standing over Tazuna, his foot on the bridge-builder's back. Another holding back a struggling Tsunami as she tried to save her son. One more holding a tanto to Inari's throat as the boy glared back defiantly. And one captain, looking on stolidly.

Suddenly, all hell broke loose as Naruto hurled the Kubikiri at the ANBU threatening Inari, drawing and throwing three kunai at the ANBU standing on Tazuna in the same heartbeat. Using the momentum from hurling the Kubikiri, Naruto spun around, already forming a Rasengan in his hand. In the space of a nanosecond, Naruto thrust his right palm into the captain's stomach. Condensing his chakra, Naruto gave it even more impetus as the devastating sphere burst through the captain's backside and into the final ANBU.

Four bodies fell onto the ground within a second of each other. Naruto looked around at the scared faces. The Kubikiri was buried in a wall, blood splashed all around it. An ANBU lay near Tazuna, a kunai and his throat and two more in his heart. The captain's torso wasn't even recognizable. The one manhandling Tsunami wasn't much better off. All four were as dead as doornails. Naruto was surprised by how calloused he felt toward their deaths. Naruto glanced again at the Kubikiri and was shocked to notice it repairing itself with the blood of the fallen ANBU.

Naruto quickly walked over and pulled it out of the wall. Perhaps it was more special than he thought. Naruto then turned back to Tazuna's family, who were still trying to deal with the adrenaline rushing through their systems and the horrific scene around them.

"Are you guys alright?" Naruto asked, checking over all three for any injuries. "Did they hurt you?"

"You killed them..." Inari said, staring wide-eyed at the blood on the walls and floor.

Naruto's mind went back to his first kill, unconsciously touching the deep scratch in the right armguard of his armor. "_It was either you or him_," Jiraiya had told him. Naruto echoed those same words to Inari. "It was either you or them. And I like you guys a lot better," Naruto said with a half-smile.

Inari looked once more at the corpses, then down at the ground. He looked deep in thought for a while until his mother made her way over to her son to comfort him. "You're right, it's just..."

"I know," Naruto said, trying to impart some comfort to the small family. "I know." Then Naruto looked at Tsunami. "Are guys hurt anywhere?"

"Only a couple of bruises," Tsunami said, rubbing her arm.

"Same here," Inari and Tazuna said. "We just got lucky that you showed up right on time!" Inari said with relief, looking at Naruto with unabashed gratefulness and hero worship.

Naruto grinned in response. "Hey, a hero always makes his entrance right on time!"

Naruto then laid the Kubikiri down and dragged the bodies of the four ANBU into one pile. Taking out a scroll, Naruto quickly sealed the bodies away. "Sorry about the house, guys," Naruto said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head, not wanting to seem to insensitive to the feelings of the three civilians.

Tazuna sighed before replying. "Don't worry about it, kid. We've got our lives to thank you for," Tazuna replied. "I can tell you that I was scared as hell."

Naruto sighed sadly in reply. "I'm really sorry. I didn't think that Konoha would send an ANBU squad to Wave so soon. I thought that I'd be able to make my presence known elsewhere to draw the attention away from Wave, but it looks like these guys know me too well."

Tsunami shuddered and she drew Inari close to her, shutting her eyes to the horror around her. "Don't be sorry, Naruto. We would be dead if it weren't for you."

Naruto smiled as Inari grumbled at his mother's display of affection. Even now, this family was trying to be strong. _A good heart has the greatest strength of all_, he heard Jiraiya's voice in his head. Naruto could only agree. That was why he couldn't let these three ever get hurt because of him.

Looking around the room, Naruto suddenly realized just how bad it looked. The furniture was still intact with the exception of the huge cut in the side wall, courtesy of the Kubikiri. The rest of the room was splashed with a gory display of blood.

Reaching into his supplies pouch, Naruto retrieved several seals. He handed them to Tazuna, who gave him a quizzical look. "Here's some seals to get rid of the blood. Just put it in some water and scrub away."

The bridge-builder glanced around distastefully at the blood in his house and shuddered. He was going to have nightmares about this for days, if not weeks. "I think after we get this cleaned up, it might be time for a short vacation away from here. Somewhere quiet. A place to lay low until the coast is clear, eh Tsunami?"

Tsunami could only nod in agreement. Naruto could still see the fear in Tsunami's eyes, but it was being forced down for the sake of her family. Naruto's respect for his three friends increased exponentially. "I'll start packing. Inari, you help grandfather with the cleanup." With one last comforting hug for her son, Tsunami strode down the hall in a hurry, mentally ticking off things that she would need to pack.

"I'm really sorry about that, Tazuna. I didn't want you guys to have to go into hiding," Naruto said morosely. He didn't even want to imagine Tazuna's family getting hurt because of him. His guilt was going crazy already.

Tazuna saw the guilt that ate away at Naruto from the inside and realized that he had to say something, lest Naruto's guilt overwhelm him. The bridge builder gave a short chuckle before placing a hand on Naruto's shoulder. "Don't worry, kid. We've been long overdue for a vacation anyways."

Naruto looked up into Tazuna's eyes, a bond forming between the two men. Tazuna was acutely aware of just how much growing up Naruto had done in the past three years. In the end, come what may, the brat would probably be alright.

Naruto returned Tazuna's smile with his own sad one. "But still, I just don't want you guys to get hurt because of me."

"Don't worry so much about us, nii-san! You should worry about yourself sometimes." Inari stated, placing a hand on Naruto's elbow. "Are you sure that _you're_ going to be alright, Naruto?"

Naruto was moved that Inari thought about his welfare even during what could've been labeled a crisis for him. "Don't worry about me, Inari. I always bounce back. I just need to take care of this first," Naruto said, waving the small storage seal he held in his hand, "And in the mean time, here's some help with the cleaning."

Naruto made a hand seal and created ten shadow clones. "Alright boys, grab a rag and start scrubbing!" Naruto ordered as he moved through the door. "I'll be back."

* * *

By the time Naruto had seen Tazuna and his family safely off and cleaned away any trace of his presence in Wave, night had already fallen and the rain was beginning to drizzle. Naruto had left a squad of shadow clones with Tazuna and his family, a safety insurance that would be able to let him know when the family made it safely out of the country. He had given them instructions on how to meet with one of his contacts in Kusa, Grass Country, one of his few contacts that Jiraiya hadn't set him up with. There was a nice small village where the family would be able to hide out in comfort.

Entrusting the safety of Tazuna, Inari, and Tsunami into the hands of fate, Naruto turned his mind back to his own situation. He wouldn't be able to stay in hiding, lest other people he knew outside of the village be targeted by Danzo. At the thought of that old schemer, Naruto felt a slight headache in his head as a spike of anger rushed through him. Steadying the sudden increase in his breathing, Naruto pushed those thoughts deep into his mind.

Holding up a hand to the sky, Naruto estimated that the heavy downpour could come at any minute. Naruto looked once again at the Kubikiri, resting on his shoulder. It was incredibly heavy in his hands, that was to be sure, but Naruto couldn't deny that it felt awesome to be holding one of the legendary swords of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, even if he couldn't hold it out straight without his arms shaking like leaves.

Naruto remembered his battle with the ANBU. He had been able to throw the sword, but only with the use of sage chakra. Even _attempting_ to wield the Kubikiri without nature chakra was totally out of the question. Naruto sighed in disappointment as he realized that the sword would only be a hindrance to him as a nukenin. He didn't even have the proper training.

But, Naruto reasoned, by holding onto the Kubikiri, the sword wouldn't be able to be stolen and used by other ninja, some who might be future enemies. A small voice in Naruto's head tried to reason with him, stating all the reasons why it was a bad idea, when Naruto felt that buzzing again. Looking at the sword again, Naruto made up his mind. The Kubikiri was coming with him.

Naruto didn't want to just take it from Zabuza, though, since it was still rightly his. In fact, Naruto could sense the summoning seal imbedded into the sword. An ingenious tool, in case the sword was ever lost in combat. With some time, he'd be able to reprogram that seal for himself. And it was such a cool sword! Naruto figured that he could learn to use it with time.

Making a decision, Naruto returned to the gravesite just as the first few drops of rain were coming down. Forming a few hand seals, Naruto called out, "**Earth Style: Stone Barrier!**" A small square block of stone rose between the graves of Haku and Zabuza. Naruto took out a kunai and channeled some wind chakra into it.

Carefully, Naruto wrote out: _Here lies two great shinobi. They fought for their loved ones, and thus, were strong._ Naruto wasn't sure what else he should write. He didn't want to identify the bodies, just in case some sick no-gooder came along. Naruto then stabbed the kunai into the stone slab. Writing a quick seal onto the stone, Naruto ensured that the grave marker would last long after he died.

"Sorry about the Kubikiri, Zabuza, but I really like it," Naruto said sheepishly. He didn't sound one bit sorry. "I'll return it if I can."

Naruto then drew a quick storage seal on his wrist. One that he could quickly activate in a jiffy. He would have to improve its design later, but for now, it was workable. With a quick burst of chakra, the Kubikiri disappeared into Naruto's wrist. Naruto grinned before giving an apologetic and farewell wave to Zabuza and Haku's grave once more.

With that, Naruto disappeared in flash of yellow.

* * *

It wasn't until an hour later that Naruto made it back to Taki with the use of the seals he had trailed behind him during his escape from Fire Country. Naruto planned to only stay the night before leaving, but he wanted to see Fū one more time. If he went into hiding, it would probably be the last time he saw her.

But as Naruto made his way into the village, immediately, he could feel something wrong in the air. The blonde ninja resisted the urge to grab a passerby and start asking questions. He wasn't supposed to be in the village. He was a missing nin after all.

Looking like any other tense passerby, Naruto walked around, listening for any pertinent information. Finally, walking near a dango shop, he heard it. A group of three were whispering among themselves.

"I can't believe it! Did you see it?! Right in the middle of the day!" A fat man asked.

"I saw it too!" A younger man replied. "They came for _her_!" Worry shot through Naruto's veins when he heard that.

"What are you guys talking about?! What'd I miss? Is this that thing that happened earlier today." A dull looking woman asked.

"It was these two guys in cloaks." The younger man said. "The cloaks had-"

"Red clouds on them!" The fat man interrupted hastily, earning a glare form the younger man. "They came demanding _her_."

"But get this," the younger man said, eager to pick up the tale. "She showed up, all angry and such and hurled some knives at those two cloaked guys. Then, she hightailed it out of the village. Don't know where they are right now, but I'm sure that those two guys followed her."

"If we're lucky, they probably took her down," The fat man finished. "Besides, how'd you miss this? This was huge. Were you sleeping or something?"

The woman huffed in annoyance. "I was in my father's basement, helping him clean out some junk."

But Naruto was no longer listening. He had been gone for the whole day, and _they_ had come looking for Fū. Ero-sennin had told him about this, Naruto fumed in his head. He should've been prepared. He should've stayed!

But then, Tazuna, Tsunami, and Inari would be dead. Naruto cursed. Why couldn't things have waited for tomorrow to happen. Fū had run off about midday. It was almost midnight now. That was an entire half day. Naruto cursed again, louder this time. He could only hope that he wasn't too late. Flashing away to his tags outside of the village, Naruto drew in a breath as he searched for the other seals he had placed around Taki. He had intended to use them for escape if he needed to. Now, he would be using them to hunt and destroy.

Then, Naruto felt a disturbance in one of his seals. It had been nearly blown apart by a high level destructive jutsu. That had to be it! Although he was still tired from his return from Wave Country, Naruto knew that time was of the essence. After a half day out, if Fū kept playing cat and mouse, she could be dozens of miles out. As Naruto flashed away, his eyes showed an unflinching determination. He had a friend to save.

* * *

**A/N:** Quick note. Some of you have been asking, so I'm answering. This takes place directly after Naruto's return to Konoha from his training trip with Jiraiya. Therefore, the beginning of shippuden, except this time around, Naruto is as powerful as heck since Jiraiya actually took the time to teach Naruto more than just improving his shadow clone. I mean honestly, three years and that's all you learned... So anyways, Jiraiya is still alive, Pein has not yet been defeated, and I will be writing my own storyline involving the Akatsuki.

**A/N:** Ok. So I'm thinking I might need to up the rating to M. But seriously guys, review! I want to know what you think, what you want, what you don't want! And about my fast update thing, I think I've really gone overboard with my excitement for this story. That, coupled with the fact that I'm on spring break, means that I've got too much time on my hands and I spend it writing fanfiction. So when school starts, my updates will slow down to a crawl again. My apologies, but that's how it goes. Please review! Cheers!


	5. Chapter 5: Rescue

Chapter 5: Rescue

* * *

Naruto looked at the scene around him, illuminated by dim moonlight. The blonde ninja made a quick hand seal and activated a special jutsu that Jiraiya himself had created. "Lightless Vision Jutsu!" The dark seemed to recede from Naruto's vision, and the colors seemed to fade slightly from the world.

Naruto's mastery of the jutsu wasn't perfect, but he could make out splintered trees, overturned boulders, and something else. Something dangerous. Naruto jumped down to the ground, looking for the source of the hissing noise. Naruto then found a smoking plant. Taking a closer look, Naruto sniffed the smoke wafting up. Poison.

The more he saw of the battlefield, the less he liked the prospect of going into this battle without knowing his opponents, especially in the dark. Naruto flashed back up to the canopy where his seal was. Reaching out with his natural chakra, the young ninja scanned the surrounding the area for any signatures. At the edge of his sensory perception, Naruto felt a small blip. Focusing on that one area, Naruto felt three signatures. They were obviously engaged in combat.

In the blink of an eye, Naruto activated his seal, donning his armor, and sped off towards the battlefield. _Hang on, Fu_.

* * *

Fu's breathing was ragged, a sure tell of her decreasing strength. The two had been relentless, pursuing her throughout the entire day. Even channeling the chakra of her Biju, the young Jinchuuriki was getting very tired. She had had a string of lucky escapes, but these guys just kept coming! Who were these two?!

Fu checked her supplies. No kunai. No shuriken. Nothing. Chakra, almost out. This was it. She was too tired to fight or escape. This was the end.

"Hey, girly! Come on out, already! We've been at this for a while now! It's getting annoying!" Fu recognized the voice as the one who called himself Deidara. His techniques were the scariest. Clay bombs flying toward her and then exploding with so much force. Now, in the dark, she certainly wouldn't be able to avoid them for long.

Glancing out from her hiding position, Fu tried to gauge her chances of escape. "Alright Deidara. You know what? I'm tired of this little girl escaping us at the last possible moment." Deidara's partner said.

"So what do you suggest, senpai?" Deidara asked. Fu shuddered at the one called senpai. He used poisons. Fu got lucky in that the small dosages that got in her system through small cuts were able to be neutralized by her Biju. Even then, they had hurt like crazy.

"Make as many clones as you can and have them search the area. It's obvious that she's not going to stay in one spot for a prolonged fight." Senpai's voice was strangely wooden. It was creepy.

"Aw man. I hate making clones en masse!" Deidara complained. "It's not artful at all!"

"Shut up and do it!" Came the curt reply.

"Fine," Deidara huffed. "But Itachi and Kisame would've been so much better at this." Silence. Deidara promptly shut up and moved to his task when he saw the glare his senpai was giving him.

A distance away from the battlefield, Naruto peered around a charred tree, squinting to make out the forms in the dark. He had heard the whole exchange. So these guys were with Itachi and Kisame. That meant that they really were with Akatsuki. They were hunting Biju. A chill crawled down Naruto's spine as he remembered his close shave with Itachi and Kisame. If ero-sennin hadn't been there…

Naruto pushed those thoughts aside for the moment. Since they were Akatsuki, he was fairly confident that it was just the two of them. He could sense Fu hiding on the forest floor, but she was running dangerously low. Then, Naruto noticed what the blonde, Deidara was doing. J_udging by the clay creations he's making, he must be the explosion expert._

That left the weird one who was called senpai. For Naruto, he was a mystery. He looked like a huge beast, the way the cloak stretched and shaped its form. He had to be the one with the poison. But what was his specialty? Those cloaks were so annoying!

Naruto thought of his options. He was no Shikamaru, but ero-sennin had taught him well when it came to strategy. T_he goal of this fight's not to win. It's to gather information, then escape with Fu_, Naruto thought. _But I don't want to reveal all of my techniques just yet._ That left shadow clones and elemental manipulation. Naruto would have to stay on his toes to come out of this one alive.

Naruto grabbed his shirt and tore off the sleeves, lending him a savager look. He quickly wrapped the black cloth around the bottom half of his face, leaving only his eyes visible. Grabbing a handful of the ash from the burned tree, Naruto sprinkled the stuff in his hair to dull the bright blonde color. The end result was a patching of black in Naruto's blonde hair, doing nothing to hide it. Naruto could only sigh. This would have to do. Naruto checked the straps of his armor. For all intents and purposes, he looked like a hunter nin ready to deal death.

He had to get to Deidara before any more clones were made. Naruto could already count three on the battlefield. Trying to stay stealthy, Naruto crept along the forest floor, planning to ambush the two from below.

It was slow going, but Naruto finally made it directly under the limb the two missing nin were standing on. "Hey senpai." Naruto froze. "I think there's something wrong." Naruto bit back a curse and threw caution to the wind.

Jumping up, Naruto drew a kunai, channeling wind chakra into it. Landing behind a surprised Deidara, Naruto sliced downwards aiming for Deidara's head. To his surprise, his kunai bit deeply into a mechanical limb of sorts. Naruto could feel the poison on the metal tip, noxious and lethal. Sparing only a glance at Deidara's partner, Naruto changed tacks, releasing the kunai and going for a jutsu. He had only time for one seal before Deidara grinned, forming his own seal. "Katsu!" One.

Naruto jumped back rapidly, just escaping the blast radius. _He had already substituted with an exploding clone! _Obviously, his clay was the source of his jutsus. _I didn't take either of them by surprise_. "Great," Naruto muttered to himself. These guys in Akatsuki really were all S-Class missing nin.

"Watch out!" He heard a voice warn to his side. That was Fu! Whirling around, Naruto saw one of Deidara's clay clones launching itself at him. "Sh-"

**BOOM**! Two. A huge explosion rocked the area the blonde ninja was just standing. Nothing but dust remained. "Oh yeah!" Deidara cried from a high tree limb. "That guy wasn't so tough!"

As the last word was uttered, a blur appeared behind Deidara, kunai poised for the killing blow. Deidara stiffened in shock. As the kunai was an inch away from contact, the blonde Akatsuki member smirked. "Katsu!"

**BOOM!** Three. Another explosion rocked the area. All that remained was a shattered log. Only the real remains. Deidara appeared beside his mysterious partner once again. The two Akatsuki members looked towards the spot where Fu had warned the blonde interferer. She wasn't there. "Man, that guy is slippery. Hn."

"He looks very familiar," The misshapen being said. It's voice was gravelly. "Somebody helping the Nanabi Jinchuuriki did not figure into my information."

"So what should we do, Sasori-senpai?" Deidara asked. From a discrete hiding spot, Naruto heard Deidara's slip. Sasori. He needed to find information about that one. He turned to the frightened and confused girl besides him. "Shh," He whispered to Fu. "Take this," He said, handing her a tri-pronged kunai. "Find another spot out of their eyesight, and wait for me there." Then Naruto heard it. "Katsu!"

Reacting on instinct, Naruto kicked Fu away and out of the radius blast and brought his arms up to defend against the clone above him. In the next instant, the explosion hit him, a wave of heat and pain. Naruto cried out as he was blown backwards across the ground, skidding painfully across several rocks before his back pushed up against a tree. When had Deidara created another clone?

"So this is our mystery guest," Sasori said. Naruto groaned as he scrambled up. His armor had saved him again, despite him losing track of Deidara's movements.

"Like I said, this guy isn't so tough. Hn." Deidara smirked down at his opponent. Naruto whipped out a kunai and charged it with wind chakra.

"You might want to take that back," Naruto said, holding it in a defensive position. _Their attention is on me, not Fu. Good_, Naruto thought.

"Hmm, you're a missing nin from Konoha, are you?" Sasori said, glancing pointedly at Naruto's headband glinting in the moonlight, causing the young blonde to stiffen and stifle a curse. He had forgotten about that piece of identification. It would be only a matter of time till Sasori found out who he was. His only advantage now was that they didn't know who he was right now.

_One shot. That's all I'm gonna get_, Naruto thought. He was being underestimated right now. He had to take advantage of that fact. Without warning, Naruto hurled his charged kunai at the pair. Clapping his hands together, Naruto called out, "Shadow Shurikens!"

The one kunai became a cloud of fifty, homing in on the two. Quickly forming another seal, Naruto called out again, "**Fire Style: Fire Breathing Jutsu!**" A plume of fire ignited the cloud of kunai, causing the fire to blossom into an inferno, banishing the dark with a burning orange. The two Akatsuki members were forced to jump apart from each other. Perfect.

Sasori landed a short distance away, when suddenly, Naruto appeared above him, poised to strike. "Fool," Sasori breathed, before his tail shot forward, tip poised to impale this annoyance. Thus, shock ran through him when out of nowhere, a blue spiraling ball of chakra materialized in the blonde's hand, lighting up the night sky.

"**Rasengan!**" Naruto cried out, slamming the orb into the metal tail, smashing it to pieces. Naruto was relentless, slamming the Rasengan further into Sasori's body, the chakra grinding through the wood as if it were butter.

Smashing through the outer skeleton, Naruto found an empty shell within. Was this Sasori? Then Naruto saw him, a man – boy, rather – with red hair. So he was Sasori? If so, he was fast enough to escape from that armor without Naruto noticing.

_Remember your opponents._ Naruto implanted the face of Sasori into his memories. He wouldn't be forgetting this one. He was dangerous.

"I applaud you, my friend, for getting me out of Hiruko. You have even managed to surprise me. You are the first in a long time to do either." Sasori's tone had a note of grudging respect. Naruto took another step back. He had hoped to take Sasori out with that jutsu, but of course not. Sasori was an S-Ranked nin.

Sasori's arm suddenly shot open, spitting out a rain of poison needles at an unprepared Naruto. "Unfortunately, you will not live long enough to brag about it."

"Agh!" The blonde cried out, his skin ripped apart as poison injected into his bloodstream. Then he exploded in a screen of smoke.

"Substitution with your shadow clone. Interesting that you have such chakra to flippantly use such a technique. But you can only go so far."

"Senpai!" Deidara cried out, leaping onto a nearby tree, drawn to the battle by the flashing lights and loud sounds. "Senpai!" Deidara looked shocked at seeing Sasori's true form. He glanced once at the smoldering remains of Hiruko. "That short blonde guy destroyed Hiruko?!"

"Yes, and he's escaped me. He's still in the area though. I'm sure of it. Kill him before he escapes with the Nanabi," Sasori barked out, showing a rare burst of emotion.

Deidara realized that Sasori was mad. There was something about this guy. He wisely leapt away to try and find Naruto.

Meanwhile, Naruto was with Fu, crouched behind a fallen tree, breathing hard. "He got me."

Fu looked over in concern, looking at the small scratch on the blonde's arm. He looked very familiar somehow. "Did the poison guy get you?"

"Yeah," Naruto breathed out. "But it'll be alright. I'm er... immune to toxins. We have to get out of here."

"Yeah, no kidding, brainiac. But how?" Fu asked sarcastically.

Naruto just smiled. "Hold my hand."

Fu just gave him another look. "I don't think so, Casanova."

"I'm being serious, Fu," Naruto coughed out.

"How do you know my name?" The Nanabi Jinchuuriki asked. Naruto gave her a surprised look. Was wearing a mask in the dark really that effective?

"I'm–" Then Naruto caught sight of a small white bug on Fu's shoulder. That didn't look natural. Naruto shot his hand forward, knocking the bug off of Fu. In a split second, he had pulled Fu away from the fallen trunk and a swarm of clay spiders crawling toward them. Naruto only had time to pull her behind him, "Brace yours–"

**BOOM!** Naruto cried out as the concussive force knocked both him and Fu backwards. Grabbing Fu in midair, Naruto gritted through the pain before twisting so that he would cushion the girl's fall. Chivalrous to the end.

Slamming painfully between the crook of a limb and a trunk, Naruto took time to admire the strength in Fu's small frame. That among other things… Before that train of thought could go any further, Naruto noticed that Deidara and Sasori had both drawn near, effectively backing him and Fu against the tree. If his guess was right, capture was the name of the game. That would be important.

"Fu!" He whispered urgently, shaking the green haired girl out of her dizziness. "I need a smokescreen!" Fu, needing only one glance to see the dire situation she and this mysterious blonde ninja were in, made a hand seal immediately, springing to her feet.

"Close your eyes! **Blinding Scale Powder Jutsu!**" Fu exhaled a huge cloud of blinding bright… stuff, which was even more luminous in the dark of the night.

"Gah!" Deidara cried, "I can't see!"

Sasori only grunted before launching himself at his two targets. If that blonde was who he thought he was, he couldn't let him get away. Slicing a hidden sword down, it met only air before burying itself into the wood of the tree. Sasori growled angrily, the evidence of his failure burning through whatever human organs remained in him.

Finally, Deidara regained his sight. "Senpai! Where are they?!"

"Gone," Sasori said. "We're leaving."

"We're not going to look for them?" Deidara asked, slightly confused.

"No. They're gone. That blonde one. He's a nuisance, that one. Dangerous." Sasori walked away, not leaving Deidara with any other explanation.

"Senpai! Wait up a sec!" Deidara called as he raced after his partner.

* * *

Fu gasped as what felt like a vortex relinquished its hold on her. She looked around to find that the woods were peaceful and quiet, free from the carnage of the battle she had just escaped. "What– Where– How–" Fu stuttered out, looking at the blonde in wonder.

Naruto chuckled at her response as he pulled off his mask and shook the ash out of his hair. "Recognize me now?"

Fu's eyes widened as she realized who had saved her. "Naruto?! You're a ninja?!"

Naruto looked taken aback. "You mean, you didn't know?"

Fu thought back to when she had first met Naruto. "Um…" Fu began, slightly embarrassed, "I was too angry to think about it."

Naruto gave a subtle glance at Fu's chest and chuckled. "Heheh, I can understand that."

Fu caught where Naruto was looking and grew beet red. "Idiot!" She cried, punching Naruto in the shoulder. "I can't believe that a guy like you is such a good ninja!"

Naruto thought about Jiraiya. When he first met him, he was pretty sure that ero-sennin was really weak. How wrong he was. Naruto grinned. "Don't let that fool you. My teacher's even worse than me."

Fu looked at Naruto, silently asking if such a thing was even possible. Naruto only chuckled. "Wait a sec, were you tailing me then? Is that how you found me in Taki? And where were you when those goons showed up? How'd you even find me? And what was that jutsu you used to escape?"

"Whoa there!" Naruto said, holding up a hand to halt the torrent of questions. "One question at a time!"

Fu cut herself off mid question, realizing that she had been spouting off again. "Sorry about that," She said, grinning sheepishly. "I have a tendency to ask a lot of questions."

Naruto grinned in response. "Me too! My sensei hates it when I start asking him too many questions."

The two young shinobi laughed together as they made their way back to Taki, the sun beginning to peep its first few rays over the horizon.

* * *

**A/N:** If I haven't said it before, I must say it now. Thank you to everybody who has reviewed. I really appreciate it and it brightens my day immeasurably when I hear that ding in my email. So thank you. Anyways, action scene! This was mainly to showcase more of Naruto's abilities as well as solidify the friendship between Fu and Naruto. Preview for the next two chapters: Naruto makes his way back to Konoha for confrontation! Will Fu tag along, or not? Review! I command by the authority vested in my by… somebody important! And not that you need to know this, but within the next few chapters, rating'll definitely go up. Cheers!


	6. Chapter 6: Revelations

Chapter 6: Revelations

* * *

It was sunrise when Fū and Naruto made it back to the hidden entrance to Takigakure. Naruto hesitated a while, seeing the guards up ahead. Fū noticed his hesitation and looked back questioningly. Too tired for words, a silent question floated between the two. Finally, Naruto shrugged and reached up to his headband, untying it and stashing it away in his ninja pouch.

Fu's eyes widened suddenly as she processed something that had been in front of her eyes the entire time. "Your headband! It's like theirs! You're a missing nin?" She asked, taking a step away fearfully.

Naruto looked deeply hurt. "I am, but I'm not like that, I swear."

"Really?" Fū asked, still looking very afraid.

Out of nowhere, anger and something else – betrayal? – rose swiftly in Naruto's heart. "If I wanted to kill you, I could've done that a long time ago. Heck, I could've let those two Akatsuki guys capture you!"

Fū suddenly looked shamed as she realized the truth. Where before there was camaraderie and ease between the two, there was now a stretching silence. Fū shuffled her feet nervously as she tried to reconcile the image of a missing nin with that of the blonde with her. He was nothing like the monsters portrayed by her village. "Er, sorry for thinking of you like that," she mumbled out.

Naruto only sighed before proceeding toward the hidden village. "Let's just get you back to Taki."

Fū fell into step beside Naruto tentatively again. "It's just that… that… when you've been a hidden village your whole life, you start to assume things about missing nin," Fū said suddenly.

Naruto kept his eyes straight ahead, refusing to look at her. "How do you think _I_ felt when my hidden village turned its back on me?"

"I do know," Fū said resolutely, stopping in her tracks. Naruto stopped as well and turned back to her.

"Is that so?" Naruto asked, his gaze a steely calm.

Fū took a deep breath before staring Naruto right in his eyes, reflecting that same calm. "Yeah. Listen Naruto," Fu began with a deep breath. "I don't trust other people easily, especially missing nin –"

"Not that you've ever met any before today, I would assume," Naruto said with a chuckle.

"Shut up, blondie! I'm trying to tell you something important!" Fū huffed out indignantly.

Naruto only grinned, gesturing for her to continue. Another huff of annoyance. "Like I was saying, I don't really trust easily, but you saved my life, so you have a right to know this." Naruto could see that Fū was really having a mental debate within her mind. She had something important to tell him.

"I'm… I'm the Jinchuuriki of the Nanabi. I have a Biju sealed in me, and because of that, my entire village has turned its back on me." Saying this, Fū steeled her gaze, almost glaring into Naruto's eyes, daring him to say something.

The two kept up their staring contest, the silence stretching with the minutes. Finally Fū spoke. "So now you know. Now you know that you saved a monster." The green haired girl looked away from the one of the few people she had felt a bond of friendship with. "You can leave if you want."

Then she heard Naruto sigh. "Fū," the blonde said, "Let me show you something. Give me your hand."

Fū turned back, a confused look on her face. Tentatively, she put her hands in Naruto's. "Ok, why am I–" Fū suddenly gasped and snatched her hand back as if it had been burned. She looked at it once in shock then turned her gaze to Naruto. Naruto's hand was covered with an unholy red chakra.

"Oh my gods! You're a Jinchuuriki too!"

IIIIIIIIIII

Naruto sat sullenly at his table, playing with his order of ramen. It wasn't like Teuchi-jisan made it, that was for sure. Naruto sat alone, as Fū had gone to report to the elders of the village about the two Akatsuki members. At first, Naruto had been worried that Fū would give him away, but she had assured him again and again that she was as good as her word.

Thinking on his status of a missing nin, Naruto had been skeptical about trusting her. Finally, he had let her go. After all, there was nothing that he could to stop her from talking to the elders short of killing her, and he wasn't that type of person.

He could make a quick getaway if he needed to, and if Fū did betray him, she certainly wouldn't be the last. Naruto's anger spiked as he thought about his betrayal by his own hidden village. For some reason though, thinking about someone like Fū betraying him, a fellow Jinchuuriki, made the hurt that much more poignant.

Naruto could only cross his fingers. Sighing again, the blonde thought about all of the information he had acquired lately, making a mental list.

1. He was a missing nin, being hunted by Konoha.

2. Jiraiya was who knows where, unable to be found.

3. Tsunade-baa-chan was in the hospital, in a coma or something.

4. Danzo was somehow behind everything.

Naruto's head throbbed painfully as a flash of anger coursed through him.

5. Fū was a Jinchuuriki, just like him, and she seemed surprised to learn that there were others. Naruto thought about the other Jinchuuriki that Jiraiya had told him about. It seemed that each village took a a different approach to their Jinchuuriki. Taki, it seemed, was very controlling about its "ultimate weapon."

6. Speaking of Jinchuuriki, Akatsuki was moving again and he had just encountered one of their two man cells. Deidara, a missing nin from Iwa was part of the group, as well as this Sasori character. Naruto made a mental note to search for more information regarding the latter. He seemed very dangerous, somehow. The two of them would have surely guessed who he was by now and that he was a missing nin – that he would be easy pickings without the protection of a village.

Naruto sighed as he reviewed his mental list. The world just seemed to keep piling the crap over his coffin. _But I'm not dead yet,_ Naruto thought with an angry satisfaction. Even after the execution order and the escape from Fire Country, even after Wave and even after the Akatsuki, he was still alive.

Fate wasn't going to take him down that easily. Then another thought occurred to Naruto.

Fū also now knew that he was a Jinchuuriki.

Naruto didn't know why he came back to that point. It was important to him that Fū knew who he really was. _She needs to know that she's not alone_, Naruto reasoned, although his heart was whispering something a little more muddled.

Ignoring it for the moment, Naruto turned his attention back to his food. He picked at the noodles again before hearing something very interesting.

"… A new acting Hokage," a voice said. Naruto scanned unobtrusively around the room as Jiraiya had taught him. His eyes landed on a pair of merchants sharing a dish of dumplings.

"Really? I can't believe that at Konoha of all places something like that happened." The two were oblivious to Naruto's eavesdropping.

"Yeah, I know. But since Tsunade-sama is still recovering, Konoha probably thought that it needed a new Kage."

"So who is it?" This merchant seemed to have come from another destination, come to get the news about Konoha.

"Some council member stepped up. Name's Homura Mitokado, I think. I had to stay an extra day to fill out some paperwork cause of him."

Upon hearing this, it took all of Naruto's willpower to not storm over to that table and demand why _Danzo_ wasn't Hokage and why it was this Mitokado guy. The two merchants began talking about Iwagakure, but Naruto had already stopped listening.

Danzo was _not_ Hokage. But wasn't he behind everything? Naruto asked himself. _He's the one that framed me. He's the one that had me nearly executed. The Kage-ship would be the greatest prize Danzo could get by removing Tsunade from office. So why didn't he take it?_ All of a sudden, Naruto had more questions than answers, the convictions that had taken root in his heart just a few days ago blown away like chaff in the wind.

If Danzo wasn't Hokage, than was he innocent? Was he simply doing his job? But what about the memory loss? Whenever Naruto tried to recall assassinating Tsunade, his mind always came up blank and with a headache to boot. It was as if there were some mental block in his mind.

Then, was perhaps Homura behind everything as a power bid? That didn't sound right either. Unwillingly, Naruto's mind began to turn toward the friends he had left behind in Konoha. How would they take knowing that he was now a missing nin? The only person he really saw was Kakashi-sensei, and even then, Naruto hadn't been able to talk.

Naruto then tried to look back into his memories. He would force his brain to work, to find the answers he needed. Naruto thought about the memories he had that were intact from the days preceding his condemnation.

He had reported back to baa-chan with ero-sennin, and he had been tested by Tsunade herself, since Kakashi-sensei was out on a mission. Even Tsunade had to admit that Naruto was by now an extremely high chunin-level shinobi, if not pushing jonin levels. And that was accounting only for Naruto's still not quite perfect use of the Hiraishin. With sage mode, well, the Hokage recognized that the potential there was limitless and no rank would suitably quantify the raw potential.

However, after that, the memories got hazy. Naruto remembered that ero-sennin had left Konoha, and he had stayed behind… for some relaxing time? Naruto clutched his head. The closer he got to the assassination, the more blurry the memories became, and the more his head hurt.

Naruto finally gave up when the pain was just too much. It slowly receded into a dull ache. The only explanation he could come up with was that somebody had infiltrated his mind without him knowing it. But even then…

Naruto clutched his head as another wave of pain shot through him. There was something incredibly wrong, and somehow, Naruto knew that somebody in Konoha was at the center of it. Something had happened in the couple of days leading up to his trial, but Naruto couldn't recall anything.

Answers. That was what Naruto needed. But did he need them badly enough to back to Konoha? Back into the hornet's nest? He could get back in, but could he get back out a second time? Only luck had saved him the first encounter, and he wasn't eager to try it again.

His friends, though, were still in Konoha. What were they doing? How were they doing? Had they turned against him? A little voice in Naruto's voice told him that he shouldn't care because Konoha had already turned its back against him, but another voice was insisting that Naruto at least check up on them. They were still his friends. They had nothing to do with his trial or almost-execution.

Another buzz and wave of pain passed through Naruto's head. Going back to Konoha was a dangerous course of action, but Naruto felt as if he needed to do it. Closure, if you will. Every single one of his instincts was screaming at him to turn away from Konoha and to leave it behind for good, but something kept drawing him back. He had to go back.

He had to see if his friends were alright. He had to find answers somehow. He would sneak in and out. No confrontations. Simple information gathering. Danzo was simply too strong. He had who knows how many ANBU agents helping him. If Danzo wasn't responsible, then whoever was had to be powerful politically, if not physically.

Naruto's blood boiled at the thought of being so close to Danzo, but cooled itself when the blonde realized that he was no longer definitively sure to whom the blame belonged. Naruto wanted – needed – answers, but right now, Naruto was running blind. He didn't know if any of his contacts could be trusted, as they would have surely heard of his trial through the grapevine by now.

The young nukenin would have to return to his ex-village himself. A voice in Naruto's voice continued to urgently urge him that the best of course of action would be to go into hiding immediately. A more insistent voice in Naruto's head, though, was urging a return to Konoha. Another stab of pain.

_I have to go back to Konoha!_ That was the conclusion that Naruto came back to every single time. It was time to return. Quickly slurping down his ramen, leaving not even a drop, Naruto left a few coins on the table and hurriedly left the shop. He had to tell Fū goodbye.

IIIIIIIIII

Naruto found Fū sitting by the tree where they had first been introduced. She didn't look happy. "Hey, Fū!" Naruto called out, causing the girl to look up.

"Hey, Naruto," She waved back. "What's up?" Fū herself looked like that she had something to say.

Naruto took a seat next to Fū, taking a deep breath. "Um listen. I just found out some really important news, and I need to head back to Konoha right away."

"Are you crazy?!" Fū yelled out, surprised. "You're a wanted criminal in Konoha! Why would you go back?!"

"Um… you see, I can't quite explain, but there are some things that I need to take care of."

Fū looked at Naruto as if he had grown another head.

"Listen," Naruto signed, "I don't like the idea of going back, but I feel that this is something I simply have to do. I won't get any peace until I return." And finally, he knew that peace was the crux of the matter. After leaving Konoha, something had been nagging away at him, and deep down, he knew that going back to Konoha would resolve this. It was as if a voice in his head were guiding him…

"Oh." Fū was strangely quiet.

"What's wrong?" Naruto asked.

"Besides the fact that you're absolutely crazy and there's no way you'll probably leave alive?" Fū deadpanned, causing Naruto to chuckle. There was silence for a while before Fū suddenly blurted out, "Takemewithyou!"

"Wait, what?" Naruto asked, trying to get everything his friend had said.

"Take me with you."

"You wanna come with me?!" Naruto cried, giving Fū a look filled with concealed, but hopeful joy. "You just said that it's practically a suicide mission," Naruto pointed out, not wanting to indulge his hope too quickly.

Fū looked like she was thinking about something very deeply. Finally, she looked up. "Yeah. Nothing's left for me here." Naruto noticed that his friend looked absolutely livid.

"What happened?" He asked cautiously.

Fū paused, as if struggling to tell the story. "It's this village! I'm done with Taki! Did you know that the elders were ready to _offer_ me to Akatsuki?! Without a fight!"

Naruto remained silent, but nonetheless shocked.

"Apparently, I'm worth nothing to them. Just another tool to keep the village safe, secure, and prosperous. If I hadn't lured those two guys outside the village, who knows what might've happened to the village? Ungrateful bastards!" By this time, Fū was so impassioned with anger that it began to leak through her eyes. "I hate them!" She cried out, before twisting suddenly toward Naruto, burying her face in his shoulder. "They took everything from me!" The young girl's body began to shake with sobs.

Naruto was shocked by the sudden contact and outpouring of emotion. He cautiously slid his arm around Fū's shoulders, awkwardly trying to comfort her. The two sat there for what seemed like ages, pondering the emotions hidden deep in their hearts. Finally, a still-sniffling Fū lifted her head from Naruto's shoulder. "This never happened, got it?"

Naruto gave her a small smirk. "Why? Don't want to admit that you liked being held by me?"

Fū blushed angrily. "You idiot! I was talking about the crying thing! I'm not some girly-girl that cries on other people's shoulders, got it?"

Naruto only nodded and maintained his smirk. "But you still liked being right here," He teased, pointing to the crook of his arm.

Fū huffed in annoyance, punching Naruto in the arm… hard. "Fine. Jeez. I'll stop." But Naruto couldn't keep the smile off of his face.

Then, everything came crashing down as he realized something. Fū couldn't come with him. He remembered how lonely and lost he felt, a missing nin, cut off from his friends at Konoha. Everyday, it was the loneliness that Naruto dreaded to face. He had skills passed down to him by his teacher, and he could face any life-or-death situation fearlessly. But it was the being alone and abandoned that struck fear into his bones every day. Thinking of this, Naruto realized that he couldn't let Fū come with him.

"Fū, you can't come with me."

Fū whipped her head in Naruto's direction. "Why not?!"

"Other than the extreme danger and possibility of death?" Fū glared as Naruto recycled the same sarcastic tone she had used against him, causing the blonde to chuckle again. "I can't let you come with me because you don't deserve the life of a missing nin." Naruto looked away sadly, unable to meet his friend's gaze.

"Oh, you've gotta be kidding me, Uzumaki. After I've told you that I've got nothing left for me here, you're bailing out on me now?" If Naruto had looked, he would have seen anger mixed with confused grief etched in Fū's eyes.

"You don't get it! At least you have a village, and I'm sure that there are people here who care about you. I can't let you leave that!" Naruto cried out, head turned stubbornly yet regretfully away from the emotional maelstrom in Fū's eyes.

Both were silent for a while. Finally, Fū spoke. "I told you Naruto, there's nothing left for me here. The one person who has ever been half a friend to me would understand exactly why I'm leaving. He wouldn't be able to stop me either."

"It's just that–" Naruto began helplessly before being cut off.

"Just nothing! You just don't think I can handle it. Well let me tell you right now that there is nothing you can do that I can't do better. So there!" Fū reiterated her point by jabbing her finger into Naruto's cheek, causing the blonde to rub the spot and turn toward his companion.

"But this is my mission. How can I ask you to accompany me on something so selfish?"

"Listen here, blondie!" Fū interrupted. "_You_ don't _let_ me do anything! Got it?! I'm _choosing_ to go with you! But if you don't want me to come–"

Fū's voice died in her throat when Naruto suddenly leaned over and gave her a quick hug. "Wh-Wha-What was that for?" Fū stuttered out, embarrassed at her blatant show of emotions.

"Thanks for being a good friend." Fū paused. Naruto considered her a friend. Did she consider Naruto a friend? The answer came quickly and easily when she returned her friend's smile.

"So I'm coming with you, right?" Fū asked, beating down the blush on her cheeks.

"I'd be honored to have you come with me," Naruto said, grinning at his friend.

The two shook hands as if making a pact. Fū then spoke up, grinning. "You'd better be honored, blondie, having a ninja like me accompanying you."

"Are you kidding? You're the one who should be honored!" Naruto bantered cheerily. "I'm the son of the Fourth Hokage!"

"Ha! I scoff at genetics! Anything you and your fancy Hokage genes can do, I can do better. Guaranteed!" Fū challenged.

Naruto thought about this for a second. "Is that so?" He asked, breaking out into a wide grin. Suddenly, taking Fū with him seemed more and more like a good idea. "Well I bet I'll beat you to the ramen stand. Not only that, but I'll eat more bowls than you can!"

"Ha! You're on!" Fū cried, already up and racing for the ramen shop, her heart light and happy in the company of her new friend.

"Hey, wait a sec! I didn't say go!" Naruto yelled, quickly jumping up and running after Fū. It took some hard running, but he finally caught up, keeping pace as the two sprinted through the streets. They ended up at the ramen shop huffing and puffing, very out of breath.

Finally catching his breath, Naruto wheezed out, "I'm pretty sure that I won _that_ race."

"You?!" Fū gasped out. "I was here first!"

"No way!" Naruto retorted, arguing with Fū for a short while before giving in. "Fine, let's just call it a tie, eh?" Naruto offered his hand, which Fū gratefully shook.

"Fine, a tie."

Naruto grinned before adding, "I'll say this though. You sure keep things interesting."

Fū could only stare as Naruto strode past her into the ramen bar. She was going to leave behind this village that viewed her only as a monster. For once, she'd be with someone who saw her for her, not as a demon. Fū beamed another smile to the darkening sky before rushing into the ramen bar, taking a seat next to Naruto.

"Loser has to pay for the ramen. And that's definitely going to be you, blondie!" Fū exclaimed, ignoring the glances the shopkeep was sending her way. Tonight, she wasn't going to let anybody ruin her fun. She was starting a new life tomorrow.

Naruto only grinned in reply. He'd let his stomach do the talking for him. Fū had no idea what she was getting into.

IIIIIIIIIII

"Sasori, Deidara. You failed." It was a simple statement that would have made most lesser men cower in fear. Sasori was not a lesser man.

"Yes, Leader-sama." Both leader and subordinate were quiet as they stared at each other. Deidara, realizing the standoff that was happening, wisely remained quiet.

"Explain." Leader-sama said to Sasori, exclusively training his attention on the red-haired puppet user.

"Quite frankly, my information about the Nanabi was not quite at my usual standard. I underestimated her based on my spy's personal observations on her." Sasori was as cool as a pickle as he acknowledged one of the few lapses in perfection in his work.

"But how did this girl defeat both you _and_ Deidara? Your information is never so erroneous as that," the Leader said.

In Leader-sama's eyes, escape of the target _was_ defeat. If Sasori's features could have, his mouth would have pursed into a thin line. He was not used to making mistakes like this. "We underestimated her, but not overly so. What we… I," Sasori bit out – there was no point in denying his fallacies now – "Failed to realize is that she had made a friend. A powerful ally."

Leader's eyes narrowed as he thought about this development. The taking of the Nanabi Jinchuuriki should have been fast and easy to pave the way for the capture of the other Jinchuuriki.

"Tell me about this ally of hers."

Sasori gathered his thoughts, organizing the new information he had just recently learned of this mysterious blonde ninja.

"I believe that his name is Naruto Uzumaki. He is a recent missing nin of Konoha of Rank A. Currently, there is a dead or alive bounty on his head, more for alive. He escaped from Konoha under extreme duress, and this was all after torture and a near execution. He is the former student of Jiraiya of the Sannin, evidenced by his mastery of the Rasengan." Sasori paused as he laid out all of the basics of Naruto Uzumaki.

The Leader remained as impassive as ever, absorbing all of this information. "I see. This is then the same Naruto Uzumaki who is the container of the Kyuubi?"

"Yes, Leader-sama," Sasori confirmed.

"So were you and Deidara ill-equipped to handle the two of them?" Leader-sama asked, his voice giving nothing away.

Sasori hesitated a moment. He never liked admitting that he was wrong, especially when it meant that Deidara was right. But this was Leader-sama he was talking to. He could practically feel Deidara's grumbling _I told you so_ beside him.

"I believe that had we attacked full strength, we could have overwhelmed the two of them. However, based on the evasion skills shown by both Jinchuuriki… Perhaps Itachi and Kisame are… better prepared to handle these two," Sasori finished bitingly.

Leader was silent for a while before nodding. "Then that is that. Thank you, Sasori. Thank you, Deidara. You are dismissed. I want no more failures like this, understand? This has set us back to be sure. But you have more to say I sense." He asked, sensing Sasori's silence was to precede even more interesting information.

"There is one more thing, Leader-sama. Based on the jutsus he showed and may have used during our battle, I believe that Naruto Uzumaki is the son of the Fourth Hokage."

Sasori would have smirked in satisfaction if his mechanical face had allowed it, seeing Leader-sama's eyebrow raised like that. This was interesting news indeed.

* * *

**A/N:** Yup. A bit of a fluffy chapter, but not overly mushy. Quite necessary from a plot point of view. Not the big reveal some were expecting, I'm sure. School's also back up in session, so updates are slowing down. Also, some of you are complaining about lack of realism and lack of originality – Naruto isn't actually wielding Zabuza's sword because it's way too big, so it's stored in a seal on his wrist – but I've got a twist in my plot, so stick around for that.

Anyways, I'm shooting for a strong Fū, but one that is not overly cold. She has her moments, but tries to hide behind a mask, much like Naruto. She doesn't despise humanity, per se, but she's not overly fond of others either. It takes a lot to get her trust, and Naruto is definitely on his way to doing that, although both are pretty awkward with the whole emotional-outpouring thing, understandably. Review, please!


	7. Chapter 7: To Konoha

Chapter 7: To Konoha

* * *

"For the last time, the name of the town is Banbīchi," Naruto grumbled out, to which Fū burst into laughter. "Will you stop that!" Naruto cried out, his frustration boiling over. "You've been laughing since we saw the sign."

"That's cause it's so funny!" Fū gasped in a ragged breath, still chortling with laughter, "Banbīchi! Bang Beach! Hahahaha!"

Naruto groaned before face palming. How did he not realize just how immature Fū was before this.

Still giggling, Fū jabbed Naruto's ribs with her elbow. "Come on, you know you wanna laugh!"

"It's not that funny!" Naruto ground out, hoping that the town would come into view so that he would have an actual reason to shut Fū up.

"Well, Mr Crabby," Fū smirked, "You were certainly laughing when I told you it sounded like Bang Bi–"

"Will you please?!" Naruto shouted, moving ahead of his companion.

Fū's smirk only got wider. "Come on, blondie. You're such a prude sometimes!"

Naruto only grunted, maintaining his pace. Fū matched his pace, still smirking. Naruto was probably laughing on the inside.

Naruto checked the seal on his wrist which contained the Kubikiri. He infused some chakra into the seal with his left hand and suddenly felt something very heavy in his hand. "Oof!" He breathed out as the sudden and unexpected weight of the sword overwhelmed his arm muscles.

"Whoa!" Fū cried, jumping back in surprise. "Watch where you're summoning your weapons, you idiot!" Fū angrily scolded.

"Sorry," Naruto said sheepishly. "I forgot just how heavy it was.

Fū rolled her eyes. Typical. "What is it anyways?" she asked, leaning in close to examine the blade.

"A sword," Naruto deadpanned. Fū slapped Naruto upside the head without even looking.

"Thanks, Captain Obvious. I meant, what makes this one so special. I've never seen anything like it."

Rubbing the back of his head, Naruto was suddenly aware of Fū's hand on his shoulder and her close proximity as she leaned in to look at the blade.

"Uh, it's called the Kubikiri. A missing nin named Zabuza Momochi wielded the blade. He was a master with it." Naruto said, thinking about his first encounter with the missing nin.

"A master? So he could really swing this thing, huh?" Fū asked, a sense of wonderment in her voice.

"Definitely. He was pretty mean, but I guess he turned out alright in the end," Naruto said, chuckling.

Fū then glanced back up at Naruto with a small smile. "So why did _you_ take the blade, blondie?"

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked, puzzled.

"You can barely swing the thing, much less walk around with it." Fū was giggling as she had a mental picture of Naruto straining to hold up the giant sword.

"Hey, I'm no weakling!" Naruto protested, before placing both hands on the hilt of the sword and moving well away from Fū. He grunted with exertion as he moved the sword into an upright position. Centering himself, Naruto took a swing with the Kubikiri, letting the blade cut through the air.

Naruto was surprised though when the momentum of the heavy blade caused him to spin around in a circle, pulling him off balance and onto the ground in a sprawling him.

"Hey, shut up!" Naruto cried, blushing furiously as he dusted himself off. "It just caught me off guard!"

"Hahaha! You could barely lift the thing! Then when you swung it-! Hahaha!" Fū was gasping with hilarity now, re-envisioning Naruto's efforts at wielding the too-massive blade.

Naruto protested halfheartedly, pointing out that he had used it before… with the help of strength-enhancing chakra. Finally, amid Fū's peals of laughter, Naruto admitted that he wouldn't be able to use the sword in a real battle. But then, a flash of light illuminated Naruto's brain.

"Wait, I've got it!" Naruto cried. Glancing at a tree to the side with a limb hanging over the path Naruto dashed toward it, only to find that he had under compensated for the weight of the blade, nearly losing his balance again. This only caused Fū to laugh even harder. Blushing, Naruto embarrassedly told Fū off with a stammer, only to have the green-haired girl give him a smirk.

"I'll show you," Naruto mumbled out, channeling chakra to his legs. With a mighty roar, he leapt toward the branch with all his might. At any other moment, he would have easily sailed to the height of his jump, allowing him to cleave that branch in two. However, today, he was weighted down by a massive broadsword, which weighed him down significantly. He only made it three quarters of the way.

"What was _that_, blondie?" Fū called mockingly. "The say yelling while jumping around is the first sign of madness." Fū snickered at the thought of Naruto being pronounced mentally unstable.

Naruto mumbled some choice words under his breath before thinking of another solution. Storing the Kubikiri into the seal on his wrist, Naruto took another breath. This time, he launched himself into the air with ease. At the apex of his jump, Naruto quickly slapped his wrist, Kubikiri slipping easily into his waiting hand. With a swift downward swing aided by gravity and the sword's mass, Naruto easily cut through the limb before landing onto the ground with a heavy thud.

Smirking at Fū, who was simply looking at him with a raised eyebrow, Naruto adopted an air of accomplishment. "Now _that_ was cool."

"I guess," Fū agreed reluctantly, "Especially if you compare it to the first two times you tried to swing it!" Fū suddenly broke into giggles again, bending down to catch her breath. Naruto frowned playfully at his friend.

"You're just jealous you don't have a cool sword like me," Naruto said, trying to regain what Fū had left of his dignity.

"Right. Are pigs flying?" Fū said, chuckling before setting off down the path. "Come on, blondie! Time's a'wasting. We've gotta get to Banging Bit–"

"I told you not to call it that!" Naruto cried frustratedly, his irritation returning in a heartbeat. Storing the Kubikiri away, Naruto caught up to Fū with a huff of irritation to find the girl laughing uncontrollably yet again. He shook his head resignedly. There was just something about today.

IIIIIIIIIII

Naruto was sitting at a table in a crowded noodle house. Fū had been unhappy at being left to wander the town alone, but the truth of the matter was that she was simply too conspicuous, and not just because of her physical features. Naruto's own features were brightly conspicuous, but he was trained to not only act as an average, unnoticed civilian, but to _become_ an average, unnoticed civilian.

To this day, it still amazed him how effective Jiraiya's stealth techniques were, despite their simplicity. People developed a routine, and in following that routine, came to expect certain things. By fitting into that status quo, one could blend in seamlessly almost anywhere. Naruto had seen it for himself. Jiraiya's success didn't all come from his jutsus or money, but instead his ability to make himself become, for all intents and purposes, a normal civilian.

Surprisingly, Naruto had been able to pick up his sensei's methods very quickly, as if he himself had a penchant for stealth. Naruto certainly preferred anonymity to being noticed as a ninja wherever he went, especially since he was now a nukenin. He just now had to teach Fū the subtleties of the art.

Savoring his noodles contentedly, nobody would have guessed that the blonde haired boy sitting at the table enjoying his noodles was keenly observing everything that went on in the coffeehouse.

Opening up his senses, Naruto reached out to the hustle and bustle around him, all while keeping his head down in his food. He heard the usual gossip. Konoha's new Hokage. It wasn't Danzo and that was what had Naruto so confused. Danzo had been the one to apprehend him and try him for an execution. He was the one with the motivation for the Hokage's seat. Or so he had thought. But it was Homura who became Hokage. Knowing the relationship between the council member and advisor, Homura would have almost immediately handed the Kage-ship to Danzo. So what was going on?

Naruto sighed as the questions that had been brewing in his head since he first found out came rushing back. Massaging his temples at the slight headache he received from those thoughts, Naruto pushed those away for the moment since he didn't have the answers. That's why he was returning to Konoha, right?

Instead, the blonde focused on the other gossip. Nothing. Just the useless chit-chat of a small town that could be translated as Bang…

Naruto halted that train of thought in his head. He may have been a trained pervert, but he had enough maturity not to snicker childishly at such crude innuendos. Fū was definitely a bad influence on him somehow.

That was when he felt it, more than saw it. There was another ninja here. And he was trained in stealth, just like him. Then it was gone. Naruto suddenly realized that he had given himself away in his recognition. It was one of the things that Jiraiya had tried to drill out of him with limited success.

Slowly raising his head so as to not perpetuate his blunders, Naruto casually replaced his spoon in his bowl, raising his sliding up toward the figure that had taken the seat across from him. Eyes lightening, Naruto's face broke into a big relieved grin as he realized who exactly the other person was.

"Brat!" Came the jovial greeting.

"Ero-sennin!" Naruto replied cheerfully, pleasantly surprised by the turn of events.

IIIIIIIII

Naruto was surprised at how flippantly Jiraiya had dismissed the news of him being a missing nin. Clearly, he would have heard of it by now, but to simply dismiss it… A niggling voice in the back of Naruto's head was whispering unintelligibly.

When Naruto had told Jiraiya of his plans to return to Konoha, the old sage expressed an immediate concern over the action, voicing the same arguments Fū had, simply in a more convincing and calm manner.

Naruto bit his lip, remembering how he had stumbled through his explanation of why he needed to go back. He hadn't sounded very convincing at all, and Jiraiya tried to capitalize on that. "What about Fū? Are you going to lead her to her death?" He had asked pointedly.

Naruto looked away guiltily, as he realized that his answer had been yes. Jiraiya had finally acquiesced, seeing as how Fū was going willingly and Naruto had a plan of action. He had wanted to help, to offer some of his contacts to Naruto, but the both of them knew that any help on Jiraiya's part would be dangerous.

Jiraiya was actually assigned a mission in Oto to look for Orochimaru's hidden base. For him to simply show up in Konoha before his mission was ended would be very suspicious. On top of that, Jiraiya didn't know if any of his contacts in Konoha wouldn't turn Naruto in, considering that he was a missing nin. The relationship between spy masters and informants was always tricky at best.

Jiraiya hadn't wanted his student to return to Konoha, especially with Fū, another Jinchuuriki. He had a bad feeling about it. Naruto, though, was determined. He was going to almost any length to infiltrate Konoha, and that was what worried Jiraiya. He had taught Naruto to be more clear-minded than that. But the brat was now an adult. He could take care of himself. He would have to take care of himself _and_ Fū.

The old sage sighed. If he couldn't convince his student, the next best course of action would be to assist his student. Following the long silence between the two shinobi after Naruto outlined his plan to return to Konoha, Jiraiya sighed and rummaged around in his pack. Finally, he pulled out a small scroll with an intricate locking seal on it and passed it to his student.

Naruto took it and examined the seal. His trained eye immediately picked up on the failsafe mechanism. Should the lock be tampered with in any way, the information inside would be destroyed in an explosive fashion. The lock itself was incredibly complex, and only a trained seal master like ero-sennin or himself could have opened it up.

The blonde raised an eyebrow toward his mentor.

"Hokage Tower," Jiraiya had simply mouthed. Any other ninja, and Jiraiya would consider what he had done to be treason. But Naruto wouldn't do anything stupid. Of that, he was sure. Besides, he would have to trust in Naruto's planning.

Naruto had accepted the information with a nod. Jiraiya then proceeded to tell Naruto what he knew about Konoha. The two talked quickly and with low voices.

Naruto was slightly troubled as he processed all the information his mentor had just passed on to him. Konoha was alright, and Tsunade was perfectly healthy, thank goodness, if still in a coma. Concerning for sure, but what had Naruto really worried was the fact that Iwa and Kiri were militarizing. Somehow, tensions had increased between the two nations and there was talk of war. If war did break out, it would be bloody.

All in all, though, Naruto was glad that his mentor hadn't turned his back on him. All along, Naruto knew that he hadn't worried about that in the slightest. There was no way the ero-sennin would ever betray him like that. Of that, he had absolute faith in the same way that he knew that he would never abandon his sensei.

Naruto remembered the last time he had been on the Iwa coastline region with Jiraiya. The area had been relatively stable, and the two had worked on his summoning jutsu, working out the kinks so that he could actually perform the jutsu without either absolutely failing, or calling out Gamabunta. They had also worked on water walking and the principles of conserving chakra.

He had a great time, especially with the some of the villages by the coastline. Man those girls looked amazing in those bikinis. Naruto got a grin on his face, which was quickly matched by his teacher's.

"Remembering that one village, kid?" He asked, a lecherous grin on his face.

Naruto suddenly snapped out of it, wiping the grin of his face. "Yeah, I was, but there's more important stuff I need to tell you."

"Oh really?" Jiraiya asked, eyebrow raised with curiosity. He had rarely seen his student become so serious when he had mentioned that village.

"Yeah, follow me, ero-sennin," Naruto said, rising from the table and throwing a few coins onto the table.

The duo left the noodle house, conspicuous as can be, still unnoticed by the other patrons. The two walked quietly along the street, simply enjoying being in the company of the other. After they parted ways tomorrow, they would probably not see each other for a long time. Such were the lives of missing nin and spy masters.

Finally, the two arrived in front of a normal looking inn. Jiraiya turned to Naruto, commenting with a small smile, "I've taught you well, kid. Just the place I would've picked."

Naruto smirked, realizing the double meaning. It was inconspicuous, yet close to the hot springs. "Right. Anyways, there's somebody I want you to meet. I think she's back in the room."

Naruto climbed the stairs to his room. Pushing the door open, Naruto smiled, seeing Fū resting on the bed. She looked more feminine like that. Naruto must've spent just a second too long looking at her, because as Jiraiya pushed in, he got a huge grin on his face.

"My boy! You truly are my student!" Jiraiya's loud voice caused Naruto to palm his face and Fū to stir in her sleep. "I knew you would use that nukenin charm to get a girl!" Naruto nearly groaned as he saw Fū raising an eyebrow at him from behind Jiraiya. "But since when were you interested in such flat girls?" Jiraiya asked, oblivious to the fact that Fū was awake.

"What did you say?!" Jiraiya was now acutely aware of the danger. The look on Jiraiya's face was like a deer in headlights. He gestured with his eyes to Naruto. _Help me out here, brat!_

Naruto only smirked. _You got yourself into this, ero-sennin_. Jiraiya groaned as he realized his student was right. He slowly turned around. "I said, um… Naruto has good taste?" Jiraiya questioned, hoping he could weasel his way out of this one.

Fū suddenly jumped up and lashed out, her fist conking Jiraiya on his head, causing a bump to swell nearly instantly. "I heard you the first time, you geezer! Who the heck are you anyways?!" She cried, a white anger burning in her eyes.

Naruto chuckled as he saw Jiraiya groaning and rubbing the bump on his head. Too many times had he witnessed this very scene, but every time, it got him laughing. _Oh ero-sennin. Don't ever change._

"Listen here, girly. I'm Naruto's mentor, the great, the one and only, Jiraiya, the great toad sage!" Jiraiya had aptly recovered, dancing a small jig that he still somehow found awe-inspiring. The shocked look on Fū's face got Naruto chuckling yet again. Every time.

"You're blondie's teacher?!" Fū took a second to looked shock.

"Hey! I know the kid doesn't live up to my reputation, but still, that doesn't mean you have to badmouth him, you know?" Jiraiya said, adopting an injured expression. "He's a great guy."

Fū looked to Naruto, who was simply enjoying his friend's shock. Every time ero-sennin did this, it never seemed to get old. "No you idiot!" Fū cried, regaining her voice. "I meant, how could a senile idiot like you train such a great ninja like him?!"

"I told you he was worse than me," Naruto chuckled, relishing the look Fū was giving him.

Fū fell back onto the bed, clutching her head as if she was getting a headache. "It's just not possible," She mumbled into her hands.

Jiraiya turned to Naruto with an irritated look on his face. "You've had her around for how long and she still can't get over the fact that you're my student? Come on brat, I've taught you better than that. Get to know 'em before you sleep with 'em," Jiraiya said meaningfully, grinning lecherously at his student.

"What?!" Naruto cried in shock. "I would never– I mean, it's not like– Um– I haven't–"

Jiraiya just chuckled, then jumped into the air howling in pain and clutching his shin.

Fū who was still on the bed had launched her foot into the older man's shin, her anger overcoming her. "You think we slept together?!" Fū yelled in righteous fury. "I can't believe that you just implied that I'm that loose!" Fū rolled up her sleeves before advancing on a cowering Jiraiya.

Naruto knew that he would have to take matters into his own hands if he wanted to leave her without paying for a funeral. Moving between his mentor and traveling companion, Naruto raised his hands placatingly. "Look, Fū. I know how badly you want to kill ero-sennin–"

"Fitting name," Fū huffed out.

"But I brought him here because there are things that he needs to know." He gave his fellow Jinchuuriki a hard look, which was suddenly reciprocated as Fū realized exactly what Naruto wanted to talk about.

"No." She said simply.

"Fū, please. I trust him with my life, and he can help us. He's really not that bad when you get to know him" Naruto said with a small smile, gesturing with his hands but remaining between his mentor and Fū all the same.

"I resemble that, kid!" Jiraiya called out from behind Naruto, chuckling.

"Shut up, you old pervert!" Fū shouted. "That's not what I meant."

"I think I know enough, girly," Jiraiya said, dusting himself as he got up. He was all business.

"You're Taki's Jinchuuriki, and guessing by your presence with Naruto here, you've probably decided that you want to be a missing nin."

Fū's eyes widened in shock as she glanced at Naruto as if asking, _How?_ Naruto shrugged. "He's a spy master."

Fū was silent for a while. Finally, she said, "You're right. We need to talk."

Naruto nodded and activated the privacy seals he had placed around the room.

IIIIIIIII

To say that Fū was shaken would be an understatement. The sun was shining and beating down on the two travelers on the road. Naruto glanced worriedly at his friend. It had been a day since they left Banbīchi, and since then, after learning what Jiraiya had to tell them about Akatsuki, Fū had been strangely quiet.

"Do you wish you had stayed?" Naruto asked suddenly. Jiraiya glanced behind him at the two teenagers behind him. He had agreed to accompany them as far as Konoha. As much as he wanted to be there for his student, they had all agreed that it was best that the two make this journey without Jiraiya.

At the time, Naruto had felt that his mentor was somehow hiding something, but it was a vague notion. Naruto shook away the headache coming on, ignoring it and figuring that when the time came, Jiraiya would tell him.

Fū whipped her head in Naruto's direction, a confused look on her face.

"At your village, I mean. Do you wish you had stayed at Taki?" Naruto asked again. Jiraiya looked thoughtfully at Fū. He was interested in hearing her answer as well.

Fū paused before answering. "No. Like I said, Taki was ready to give me up. I probably have a greater chance of survival with you guys than with them."

Naruto accepted that answer and continued onward. Jiraiya shrugged.

"Besides, you're probably my only friend, now," Fū said quietly. Naruto almost missed it, but he smiled when he heard it. A bright smile.

"You're my friend too, believe it!" Naruto said cheerily, turning to his friend. "I'll protect you, believe it!"

"I don't need protecting, blondie!" Fū retorted, shoving Naruto playfully. "You're the one who needs protecting!" Fū laughed at the incredulous look Naruto gave her. "It's true!"

"Well, how about we've got each other's back, then?" Naruto said, unwilling to settle with the statement that _he_ was the one who needed rescuing. If he remembered correctly, he was the one doing the rescuing last time… not that anybody was keeping score.

Fū looked thoughtful for a second before breaking out into a grin. "Fine, we look out for each other!"

Naruto grinned in return. Fū kept things interesting, that was for sure. "Hey, you brats!" Jiraiya called from further up the path. "Let's get a move on! The sun's not setting any slower!" Neither could see the satisfied, almost smug smile on his face.

The two growled in amused irritation before racing to catch up with the large, white-haired man.

The trio walked on in silence, passing by the odd traveler on the path. Looking up at the sky, Naruto then grew pensive. Tomorrow, he and Fū would come into range of Konoha. Ero-sennin would be gone by then, and the'd be on their own. After being with his mentor for even a day, Naruto wasn't sure that he wanted to part ways so soon.

Then Naruto thought about what he had to do in Konoha. Answers were the most important thing now, and that meant complete anonymity. Nobody in Konoha could know that he was in the village. Jiraiya would be leaving them in the morning, and in the afternoon they'd be arriving with the bulk of merchants, so it would be time for Fū to exercise the stealth skills Naruto and Jiraiya had done their best to teach her.

Naruto grit his teeth, the only outward sign of the anticipation bubbling in the blonde. He would get his answers. One way or another.

* * *

**A/N (edit):** Edited this chapter to reflect a more logical approach to Naruto's return to Konoha. **plums** pointed out how illogical it would be for Jiraiya to simply let them go, so I inserted a scene for that, showing that Naruto does indeed have a plan for entry. Hopefully, this and events leading up to chapter 9 will explain better.

**A/N:** Ok. So I realize that I'm combining English innuendo with Japanese meaning, but hey, I speak English, so most of my wordplay is going to be based off of English usage. At least I'm sure that most of my readers are going to be able to understand what I write.

Also I hope that this chapter shows more of Naruto's character and approach to battle. I've delayed the Konoha return for long enough. Next chapter, it's going to get intense, so stick around! And review please. Tell me what you think of the interaction between Jiraiya, Fū and Naruto. I had a lot of fun writing it and hope it came off realistic enough. I didn't want anything too fake either.

So I know that I haven't inserted a lot of action, but it's coming. Don't worry. Next chapter. Please Review! Also, to **bolt**, thanks for the review. It's always surprising to how coincidental stuff on the radio seems to match fanfic reading. Still pretty awesome. Hope the rest of the story keeps you just as interested. I'd love it if I could somehow pass the 100 review mark. Maybe even the 1k mark? Nevertheless, thanks to everybody who favorited and followed as well. Your support is encouraging.


	8. Chapter 8: Homecoming

Chapter 8: Homecoming

* * *

Naruto clenched his fists in anticipation as he watched the first rays of the sun peeking through the foliage around him. It was good to be back among the forests of Fire Country. There was nothing quite like it. Naruto looked over to where Fū and Jiraiya were eating breakfast. Today, he and Fū would be parting ways with Jiraiya. He had wanted to spend more time with his sensei, but there were more pressing matters.

Focusing himself, Naruto took a deep breath in, released it, and slowly returned to his friends. The group ate in silence, sharing brief smiles as they thought about what the future might bring.

Jiraiya hated being separated from his protege once again, but Naruto… that kid knew what he was doing. Having to satisfy himself with trusting in Naruto's skills as a shinobi, Jiraiya turned his thoughts to the girl, Fū. She had a fire in her that would have died in most people, had they been in her shoes. Moreover, she had become close to Naruto in the short time the two had known each other. They would be a good team, especially with Akatsuki on the loose.

Jiraiya then thought about the Biju that each teen held within them. He would have been lying if he said that he never thought about training the two in the usage of their tailed beasts. Unfortunately, the time had never been available during Naruto's training. The blonde's progress in his other pursuits were simply too great to pursue an entirely different form of training. Perhaps fortunately, though, Naruto would learn to rely on his own strength instead of the strength of a Biju.

When Jiraiya thought about it long and hard, he came back to the conclusion he had formulated after hearing Naruto's insane notion of returning to Konoha. Naruto was ready for what was coming. Packing up his remaining gear, Jiraiya hoisted his pack onto his back. He noticed that the other two had done the same. He looked over Naruto once again, a surge of affection rising in him.

He hated to admit it, but he had gotten close to the brat. Like a father to a son, almost. More like grandson if he were to be honest with himself. Jiraiya internally groaned as he realized he was getting old.

Then the old sage glanced at Fū. He and the girl had taken a quick liking to each other, despite the banter they shared back and forth. In Jiraiya's books, Fū was alright.

Looking back at these two kids, one of whom had been his protege for a long three years, Jiraiya couldn't help but feel guilty that he was practically sending them in to a death trap. He had tried to deter them away from Konoha, but Naruto was unshakable. Having realized that Naruto was not going to be convinced otherwise, Jiraiya had done the next best thing by helping them get into Konoha alive, but still…

Raising his hand in a farewell salute, Jiraiya turned around and headed back towards Oto. No words needed to be said. Such was the life of a ninja.

Naruto and Fū both returned the salute, watching the retreating figure until it disappeared completely from sight, swallowed up by the forest around them. Sighing, they shouldered their own packs and made their way back onto the main path to Konoha. Neither said a word as they drew closer to the Village Hidden in the Leaves.

After an hour of walking in silence, each absorbed in their own thoughts, both became aware of a rumbling in the distance. They were close to the merchant caravans. Naruto had purposefully chosen this day to infiltrate Konoha because it was Trade Day and traffic into Konoha would be at its highest. The barrier and patrol teams would be on high alert, making the job a little trickier, but with the right timing, the infiltration would be just that much sweeter.

The night before, Naruto had unlocked Jiraiya's information scroll, dusting up on his sealing skills, and had formulated a plan with his mentor and companion. The plan was simple, and simple was good, as there were less things that could go wrong. They would enter and leave the village with the bulk of merchants coming in for trade week. The time they had to stay in Konoha could last anywhere between three days to a week. The timing wasn't ideal, but it would have to do.

If they were somehow compromised, Naruto and Fū would escape using the trail of Hiraishin seals Jiraiya would leave behind on his way to Otogakure. That gave Naruto at the least three days to scout out Konoha and to gather information.

As they drew nearer to the merchants, Naruto shot Fū a quick look, signaling the start of the plan. Reaching a fork in the road, the two teens merged onto the main road and fell into step with a rather large group of merchants. Ramen merchants. How ironic.

If anybody were to to be asked to recall exactly who was a part of the group at that specific moment, they would have had vague recollections of a regular looking boy and a girl who had… green hair? That wouldn't have sounded right. The memory obviously would have been hazy.

Naruto's stealth skills were unmatched, and Fū's were improving everyday. The only thing stopping them from simply walking into Konoha was the presence of sensors and the actual detection barrier that surrounded Konoha. According to Jiraiya's scroll, during emergencies, the barrier team could extend the radius of the barrier as well as enhance it with chakra disruption properties.

On a routine day such as Trade Day, the barrier would most likely be only chakra disrupting and extend somewhere about 50 to one hundred feet away from the main gates. Not the estimated 750 feet that had prevented him from detecting his Hiraishin seals during his escape from Konoha.

After walking with the caravan for a while, simply soaking up the sounds of merchants laughing and joking around them amidst the rattle of wagon wheels, Naruto and Fū noticed that they were approaching a bend in the road. Naruto knew that around this bend, there would be a straight path to Konoha's main gates and the caravan would be in clear view of the guards stationed at Konoha's main gates. They would have to make their move beforehand as leaving the caravan on that long straightaway was suicide.

Another subtle glance from Naruto signaled Fū to the second part of the plan. Slowing just a bit, Fū was quickly left behind by the group. Nobody noticed when a green-haired girl suddenly disappeared from the main group. Meanwhile, Naruto kept pace with a cart in the middle of the caravan and brushed his hand against the underside of the carriage. After a few brief seconds, he joined Fū and the two went off of the path, hiding out in the woods by the roadside. The timing would have to be perfect. As soon as the merchants passed by the bend, Naruto began his mental countdown.

After thirty two seconds, the merchants had passed through the invisible barrier. Forty eight seconds, the gate squad was checking the carts. They missed the seal. One minute and nineteen seconds, the merchants were given clearance. One minute and twenty eight seconds, nobody was watching the ramen merchants. One minute and twenty nine seconds, there was a flash. One minute and thirty seconds, one of the guards turned towards the merchants on a hunch. Nothing. He shrugged and turned back. One minute thirty one seconds, the seal placed on the cart disintegrated. One minute and thirty two seconds, there were two more civilians in Konoha, completely undetected.

IIIIIIII

Naruto and Fū flashed into a dark and bleak room, light filtering in through some ratty curtains. The place was clean, but depressing looking. Lonely. "My old apartment," Naruto had explained.

The two had left the apartment quickly, neither mentioning the place. They wandered around town, making sure to stay away from places where Naruto might run into people he knew. When the evening came around, Naruto and Fū found an inn somewhere between the edge of town and the bustling center. Not too small, not too big. The definition of nondescript. Fū sighed. They wouldn't have access to hot springs, but in a village like Konoha, considering the nature of Naruto's mission, safety overruled comfort.

Fū had to constantly remind herself that this wasn't a game, and that at any moment, she could be thrust into a life or death situation. She had to be careful. Naruto himself continued to ask himself why he was in Konoha in the first place. He knew that it was dangerous, and he was risking not only his life, but Fū's as well, and Naruto was stricken at that. Here he was, though, carrying on with this absolutely insane quest for answers. It was no use beating himself up over it. He and Fū were in Konoha, and he was going to make sure that they got out alive.

The two remained at the inn, making small talk through the tension hanging in the air. Fū had teased Naruto about putting on makeup on his whiskers to hide them, but he had retorted that it was necessary. His whiskers were simply too recognizable in Konoha. Finally, when the sun set, both teens shared a glance and made their way out the inn, like any two normal civilians looking for a good time.

Fū was wearing a simple, white, midriff bearing shirt and shorts, her still-unmarked headband hidden in the room. Naruto was wearing his black pants and a simple blue shirt. His blonde hair hung messily without his scratched-through hitai-ite holding it back. Nobody would have ever guessed that Naruto was Konoha's most recent rogue ninja. Fortunately, they couldn't see the small seal drawn just under his right shoulder. It held his ninja armor and gear. It contained everything he would need should things get dangerous.

Naruto and Fū made their way to the bustling market district in Konoha, trying to find a nice restaurant to dine in. As much as Naruto wanted to go to the ramen bar to see Teuchi-jisan and Ayame, it was too dangerous. The two eventually found a rice and sushi house. Restaurants were prime sources of information.

As they ate their meal, the gossip around them ranged from the inane to the important. Naruto picked up on the fact that not everybody in the village was against him. There were people who recognized that the trial was a farce, and that Naruto was seemingly branded a missing nin on circumstantial evidence.

On the other hand, there were others who were vehemently against Naruto, calling for the ANBU teams to be exclusively directed against him.

Naruto sat, munching his sushi, pondering why Danzo would be behind all of this. Before his three year training trip with Jiraiya, he had never even heard of Danzo. Judging from that, the guy liked to play it from the shadows. If so, why had he suddenly taken a public role in his trial as a missing nin? Why had he tried to kill him?

The more Naruto thought about it, the more and more it seemed like something was wrong, and he was missing the larger picture. He just didn't have the answers he needed. Also, regarding Homura, there weren't exactly complaints, but mainly expressions of hope that Tsunade-sama would wake from her coma soon.

Naruto was slightly worried that Tsunade had yet to wake from her coma. On top of that, how did she even get in a coma in the first place? He himself wasn't nearly skilled enough to reduce the Hokage to a hospital bed. Suddenly, something else occurred to him. Ero-sennin had barely mentioned baa-chan while they were in Banbīchi. He knew how much the old pervert actually cared for his teammate, so for him to simply not talk about Tsunade being in a coma was very strange. Was it a hint?

What was going on here? There were so many things that didn't seem to add up. Naruto's train of thought was suddenly cut off by a fresh wave of pain. And these headaches! Pushing away the pain, Naruto looked up into Fū's concerned eyes. He waved it off.

"I'm fine. Let's just head back to inn."

Fū gave him another concerned glance, then shrugged. "Alright blondie. Your call."

IIIIIIIIII

That night, Naruto snuck out into the streets of Konoha, his chakra firmly suppressed by a seal. The streets were deserted except for the occasional drunk party staggering their way home. Naruto had left Fū back at the inn, bluntly stating that her stealth skills just weren't good enough to go out tonight.

Tonight, Naruto was going to the hospital. He had to see Tsunade. Maybe seeing her would trigger his memory. There was also the fact that ero-sennin hadn't bothered to brief him on her status. That could mean either that he didn't think it was important, or it was important enough that he wanted Naruto to investigate personally. Fū hadn't been happy about being left behind, but had accepted it nonetheless.

It didn't take long for Naruto to make his way to Konoha hospital. Instead of going in through the locked front door, Naruto made his way to a side door, a service entrance. In the span of a few seconds and a lock pick later, Naruto was inside. He was careful to lock the door behind him and to check for any security measures that could alert the staff to his intrusion.

Stealing through the quiet and mainly deserted halls, Naruto made his way toward the front desk. He had to find where they were keeping Tsunade. Reaching the front desk, Naruto was pleasantly surprised to find it abandoned. Hopping the desk, Naruto moved into the inner office. He bypassed the declassified files. They wouldn't store the Hokage's files there. He moved into the secure part of the files, but a sixth sense told him to stop.

He looked up. Alarm seals. Still dressed in his civilian clothing, Naruto reached into his pocket, taking out a temporary inhibitor seal. Reaching up, he planted it over the alarm seal, effectively nullifying it and the other seals networked to it. Moving past, Naruto found the entryway to the classified files room. There was a genjutsu over it and a locking seal.

Taking out another seal, this one with a blank center, Naruto placed it on the door. Taking out a brush, Naruto quickly wrote a _weaken_ seal over an _unlock_ seal. Judging by the strength of the genjutsu, he would have five minutes before the genjutsu dispelled. He needed to read the file and get out before then if he wanted to leave no trace of his presence.

Opening the door, Naruto quickly went from shelf to shelf of classified files. Each shelf was outfitted with a lock and alarm seal. Each file was also locked down tight with extra locking and self-destruct seals. Overly paranoid? Definitely.

Then, Naruto found what he was looking for. It was under a genjutsu, so he had passed over it several times, but genjutsu detection was one of the first things that ero-sennin had taught him. Naruto unlocked the seals on the _Classified_ _Patients_ shelf and grabbed the scroll he was looking for. The seal on it was complex, but easy to bypass.

It was Tsunade's file. She had been in the hospital briefly after the attempted assassination, but was moved to a classified location. Naruto cursed. That didn't help him at all. Then he noticed it. The locking seal on the front was a lot more complex than what he first thought. It was subtle, though. The locking seal looked normal enough at first glance, but there were missing parts to the seal, parts that had nothing to do with the locking mechanism whatsoever. It was like an incomplete puzzle.

Naruto checked his time. He had three minutes left. Plenty of time. Filling in the blanks with his brush, Naruto realized that only an accomplished seal master would have been to create a seal like this. That meant only one person. Jiraiya.

Finished with the seal, Naruto looked on in fascination as words materialized on the page.

_Brat. I know it's you. You've probably followed my hint if you're reading this. There's something weird going on, and you're right at the center. I found where they're keeping Tsunade, and she's healthy. She's definitely under a medically-induced coma. It's not natural. Whoever is behind all this placed a seal on her Creation Rebirth Seal. It kept her under and had a message for you. I couldn't open it. It's keyed to your DNA somehow. I had to place a similar seal back on Tsunade to keep her under. If she woke up early, our mystery man would have realized something was up. Understand why I did it. The seal I rewrote is set to break down after one week. Whoever is behind this knew you were going to return. They clearly meant to use the seal on Tsunade to bait you. They were waiting for you. Your enemies are unseen. That much is certain. Even I'm being watched. If I was evasive when we met, now you know why. Somebody is going to great lengths to make sure that you return to Konoha. Whoever it is, he's good. I can't pinpoint him. Be careful brat._

Naruto was wide-eyed as he read the message line by line. After reading the last line, the words on the page began to disintegrate.

Naruto thought back to what he had found out. Ero-sennin had been in Konoha while he had been in Taki. This was information that brought him closer to the truth. Konoha wasn't against him, but someone in Konoha was. Jiraiya had warned him against seeing Tsunade. Judging by the decay level of the seal, Jiraiya had left this seal five days ago. He had two more days before Tsunade woke and this invisible enemy knew that he was in Konoha.

Checking the seal again, Naruto was surprised to find that Jiraiya's message had reformed into another seal. This one was small, the size of the diamond on baa-chan's forehead. It must've been the seal that Jiraiya talked about – the seal that kept Tsunade in a coma. Examining it closely, Naruto saw that there was a minuscule sealing complex written in the diamond. Recognizing the blood seal immediately and drawing some blood from his thumb, the blonde pressed it to the seal. Words began to flow from it.

_ Would you kindly come to me._

"Aagghh!" Naruto cried out involuntarily, clutching his head. Agony lanced through his brain, sending stars into his vision. Naruto now knew what he had to do.

As soon as Naruto's headache came, it disappeared. Realizing that he could have given himself away, Naruto relocked the seal containing Tsunade's patient info and destroyed the external seals on the scroll. Naruto then relocked the shelf using the same locking seal and left the room. Closing the door, Naruto removed the _weaken_ seal right on time, allowing the genjutsu to reengage before it collapsed completely. It was weaker than before, but only the original caster could probably recognize the difference.

Leaving the classified area, Naruto reached to the ceiling, removing his inhibitor seal from the alarms. They reengaged silently, unaware that they had been deactivated in the first place. Checking to make sure that nobody was coming, Naruto opened the office door behind the front desk. Not a soul in sight.

Jumping the desk again, Naruto backtracked. He reached the service entrance and left quickly. There was no trace of Naruto Uzumaki in Konoha Hospital. Nobody would have even thought to look for any.

IIIIIIIIII

The next day, Naruto was quiet. He had a lot to think about. He had shared what he knew with Fū, and the two agreed that something dangerous was brewing. That night, they agreed to separate. Risky, but there were too many things that needed to be done. Fū would gather information tonight, and Naruto would do some sneaking around.

Fū was suspicious about Naruto's vague plans, but after much reassurances, finally relented. The two had wandered about the market district during the day, actually enjoying themselves. Naruto applied some makeup to hide his whiskers again, much to Fū's amusement.

Naruto and Fū caught the latest Princess Gale movie, both surprised to find that they were both fans of the series.

"I saved her life, you know," Naruto bragged. "Her country too."

Fū only rolled her eyes. "Knowing you, you're not even lying."

"You got that right. She was hot as hell!" Naruto gave a loud wolf whistle which Fū cut off with a punch.

"Perverted idiot," she muttered amid Naruto's chuckles.

"Last I heard," Naruto continued, "She was cast as the lead in the new Icha Icha movie!" Naruto's grin grew lecherous, not unlike Jiraiya's.

Fū growled, punching Naruto in the shoulder again, harder this time. "Pervert!" She yelled, causing Naruto to laugh out loud.

The two could have almost forgotten the danger they were in, but Naruto was always vigilant. He did not want to run into the Konoha Eleven, Shikamaru especially. If anybody could recognize him, it was one of them. Naruto had never tested his stealth skills against Shikamaru's subtle observational skills, but he didn't want to test it today.

Finally, evening came around and it was time for them to part ways. Naruto gave Fū a small apologetic smile, as if to say sorry for being unable to show Fū a good time around his home village. _Ex village now_, Naruto thought sadly. Fū silently waved his apology aside. She could still have some fun on her own anyhow.

Naruto gave another half smile, half apology before ambling out of the crowd and into a side alley. Nobody noticed him of course.

Fū sighed. She was alone now. What to do. Her thoughts were interrupted by the rumbling of her stomach. "Maybe I should eat something first," Fū said, rubbing her stomach gingerly. Making her way toward what was the food district, Fū looked at all the choices around her, careful to continually utilize the skills taught to her by Naruto and the Old Pervert. She hadn't yet come to the point of applying them instinctually.

Finally, Fū spotted a restaurant selling Korean barbecue. One of her favorites. Walking in, Fū ordered a table for one and was promptly seated. She couldn't help but notice a large group young ninja sharing a meal together. There was a girl with pink hair, a blonde, another with brown hair, and one with white eyes. There were a couple of boys there as well, one sharing the girl's white eyes. _Relatives_? Fū thought. One of the fatter boys was stuffing his face, one had some sort of markings on his face, another had a hairstyle mimicking a pineapple, one in a trench coat, and one had very bushy eyebrows. A group composed of some of the most noticeable people Fū had ever seen, her own green hair an exception.

Fū paid careful attention to her behavior, seeming casual without the sense of eavesdropping. She was simply a civilian interested only in her meal. She ordered her food, all the while listening on the conversations of the young ninja. They were near her age – Naruto's as well. That piqued her curiosity even further. Could these be Naruto's friends? He hadn't talked much about his life in Konoha. This could be a glimpse in.

"I don't believe it," the pink haired girl said. "Naruto would never try to assassinate Tsunade-sama. I know for a fact that those two were like this," She held up two fingers, crossing them over to emphasize her point.

"Come on, Sakura," the blonde haired girl said. "Let's please stop talking about that. That's all I've been hearing about for the past week. We weren't here when it happened, so the best we can do is wait for the official report to be released." The blonde sighed as if she were tired of a discussion which has been brought up one too many times. Fū raised a mental eyebrow. Interesting. So they did know Naruto. The girl called Sakura must've been close to Naruto since she looked ready to blow a gasket. She was interrupted by the blue-haired girl with the white eyes.

"Don't you care about Naruto-kun, Ino-san?" The blue-haired girl asked quietly, her voice timid. "He's our friend."

The blonde, Ino, sighed. "Of course I care about him. But honestly, what can we do, Hinata?"

Pineapple head sighed. "Guys, Ino's right. We can't really do anything for Naruto until we know more."

"But that's just it, Shikamaru!" Sakura butted in. She was kind of loud, Fū thought sourly, picking at her barbecue. "There's something fishy. I haven't been allowed to see Tsunade-sama, and the details of the actual attempt haven't been released yet."

"Besides," The boy with the white eyes said. "Don't any of you think it was coincidental that none of us were in the village during the time of Naruto's trial?"

Naruto heard the groans and protests from some in the group directed at the one who spoke, whose name she guessed was Neji.

"Come on, dude!" The boy with the markings said. "You've been saying that since forever, but honestly, I don't know what to make of all this. I just want to hear it from Naruto's mouth himself."

The brown bun haired girl sighed. "You guys are making it sound like Naruto's involved in a conspiracy or something. Is that what you really think?"

"Naruto burns brightly with the fires of youth! He would never do something like this!" Eyebrows said loudly. Fū noticed the sighs around the table, as if this was also a regular occurrence.

"Honestly, not seeing him for three years and then hearing about this puts me on edge. I don't know what to think either," Ino said sadly.

Fū felt a twinge of guilt rise up in her. Here she was, eavesdropping on people who were obviously Naruto's friends, and she was willfully withholding news about Naruto from them. But Naruto had been clear. Nobody was to know of his presence in the village.

Holding back the sigh that threatened to escape her, Fū continued to listen. "Listen to me! Naruto's innocent! I know it!" Sakura exclaimed passionately. She was only met with the sighs of the other members in the group.

The one called Shikamaru finally spoke up. "If this really is a conspiracy, like you think it is, then it would be safest if we don't get involved at all."

"Guys, can we please stop talking about this! Hinata's getting pretty upset," Tattoo boy said.

Hinata turned her head, her cheeks turning red despite the somber mood surrounding her. _Did she use to crush on Naruto, or is it dog boy over there_? Fū asked herself. "All the same, if the order comes down to it, I won't kill Naruto," The fat one said, looking up from his meal to add his input.

Fū took note of the general agreements all around the table, ranging from reserved to impassioned. _Huh. Looks like Naruto has some pretty loyal friends_. Fū didn't know what to make of that. On one hand, she was happy for Naruto. On another, she wasn't sure what to feel, knowing that Naruto's life had been so much better as a Jinchuuriki than hers. Then she thought of his becoming a missing nin. It wasn't all better, and it was no use being jealous for something that was in the past.

Suddenly, Fū became acutely aware of the hush that had befallen the table. Using the techniques taught to her by Naruto, she felt rather than saw that Pineapple Head had an eye roaming the room. Had he caught onto her?

Fū resisted the urge to stiffen and reveal herself. It was a rookie's mistake, and one that Naruto had spent hours upon hours drilling out of her. She nearly breathed a sigh of relief when Shikamaru's eyes passed over her, but she held it in all the same, even as his eyes whipped back in her direction, trying to spot a change in demeanor.

Fū was suddenly glad that she was partially turned away from the group. Using all of her strength to restrain her jumpy muscles and her screaming instincts, Fū remained calm and completely casual on the outside. Information gathering was officially over. She had to find a way to extricate herself as quickly and subtly as possible.

Fū internally let out a breath when the group started talking again, although this time in more hushed tones. Unable to hear anything more, waiting what she thought was a sufficient time, Fū paid her tab and left the table. Pineapple Head was a sharp one – Much sharper than the lazy-bum-image he presented at the restaurant. He was clearly a leader among that group.

Knowing that he would be coming after her as soon as she left, Fū blended into the crowd, making her way quickly back to the inn. When Shikamaru stepped outside seconds later, he was left with a sense of confusion as he was unable to spot that girl he had noticed back at the restaurant. There was something about her that just piqued his interest. He found it harder to remember her for some reason. She had… green hair? Tanned skin? Shikamaru found the details slightly haze when usually they came so clearly.

He would have to keep an eye out for that one. There was something about her. He shrugged and walked back inside. No matter the case, she was gone now, and he had some dessert to finish.

IIIIIIIIII

Naruto stood at the top of the Hokage monument. It had taken him nearly a half hour to make his way across town without attracting attention. He couldn't use chakra, so the going was slow and tense, especially with other ninja patrolling the rooftops. Only a week after his trial and Konoha's security was super-beefed up.

Naruto took a deep breath and released his tension into the air. Releasing a minuscule amount of chakra, Naruto tapped his shoulder, his armor grafting onto him instantly. Testing all of the hidden weapon holsters, Naruto made sure that everything was strapped tight and ready for action. Who knew what could happen tonight. After doing a checkup on all of his gear, Naruto settled down to wait.

_Would you kindly come to me_. Naruto clutched his head. What was going on?

It wasn't until the moon was past its peak that Naruto judged the time to be right. Stealing away from his spot on the Hokage's tower, Naruto drifted through the now silent streets of Konoha, melding in and out of shadows as if he were a shade, one with the blackness. Naruto could have scoffed at the complacency of night guards the world over. They always grew lax around 4:00 AM, drifting off into a false sense of security right before the rising of the sun.

None of the patrol squads noticed Naruto, nor did anybody notice when a figure alighted upon the Hokage Tower. How could they know when none of the security seals could activate. For Naruto, a seal master like his father before him, the security seals around the tower were child's play, especially with the general layout of the seal complex from Jiraiya's notes.

Within a minute, Naruto was in the tower and opposite the door to the Hokage's office. This was it. With a flick of his wrist, a special three-pronged kunai appeared in his hand. Infusing the kunai with wind chakra, Naruto hurled it straight at the door. The sharpened kunai sliced through the wood like a hot knife through butter.

Naruto could sense the alarmed movement of the Hokage from the desk behind the office door. _What a terrible design_, Naruto thought wryly.

With a small burst of chakra, Naruto was gone from the hallway. A second later and Naruto dropped into the Hokage's office with a yellow flash. Catching his kunai, Naruto found himself crouching behind the old Hokage.

Homura, sensing a presence behind him, gave a quick turn of his head, spotting the assassin behind him. Eyes widening, he shot a leg backwards at the assailant. Catching the foot against his palm, Naruto had to admire the still-keen reflexes of the old man.

Suddenly, snatching his leg out of the assassin's hand, the old man back flipped away from the blonde. Landing near the door, the Hokage brought up his hand to activate the alarms throughout the tower. But he was too slow. Suddenly, the assassin was behind him. When did-?

Homura suddenly stiffened as every joint in his body locked in place. "What did you-?" He strained against his restraints, struggling to move his jaws. Finally, the assassin smirked and moved into the Hokage's view.

"Remember me?" Came the chuckle.

Homura's eyes widened. "Uzumaki Naruto!" He hissed.

"Yo," Naruto said casually – mockingly – lifting his kunai to Homura's throat. He could see the rage burning within the acting Hokage's eyes, even in the dimly lit office.

"You won't get aw–!" He was suddenly cut off as the tip of the kunai suddenly pushed up against the man's chin, forcing the jaw into the moving tongue. Homura groaned at the unexpected pain.

"Listen here, old man. Nobody is going to hear you. I have questions I want answered. Got it?" Naruto remained absolutely calm and cold, keeping his kunai pressed against Homura's neck, even going so far as to draw some blood from a small scratch under the chin.

Homura shook with helpless rage and frustration. He had been taken unawares by this boy somehow. Perhaps he had been foolish to believe that he was still skilled enough to become acting Hokage.

Naruto nodded in satisfaction. "Now tell me. Where is Danzo?" Naruto's voice grew twenty degrees colder, sending a chill down Homura's spine. The old man held his tongue for a few seconds before suddenly crying out in pain. Naruto had smashed the blunt end of the kunai into Homura's jaw.

"He's not here," The acting Hokage finally hissed out in pain. Naruto brought his kunai up to Homura's eyes.

"Next time," Naruto menacingly, "It's going to be the sharp end of the kunai that your face will run into, got it?"

Before Homura had a chance to respond, a voice called from the other side of the door.

"I'm flattered that you've come back to see me, Naruto-kun."

A spike of rage shot through Naruto as he viciously struck Homura across the temple. The old acting Hokage went out like a light. Growling, Naruto could feel the red starting to enter his vision. "You."

Naruto clenched his fists, anger boiling his blood. This was the man who betrayed him. This was the man who condemned him to the life of a missing nin. This was the man whom he was going to kill.

"I've been waiting for you, Kitsune." A shiver ran down Naruto's spine. His anger dissipated as a chill gripped his heart. Danzo's calm was beginning to unnerve Naruto.

"What are you talking about?!" Naruto growled out, trying to recapture his anger.

Danzo's face remained as impassive as always, before he finally spoke. "Why, your return to Root, of course."

"Return? You tried to destroy me!" Naruto roared out. "You ruined my life! You botched my trial! You made me a missing nin!" Naruto's anger was growing anew again. With a flick of his wrist, Naruto drew a kunai in his other hand.

Danzo didn't look the least bit fazed. "You think that I was trying to destroy you? How mistaken you are." As Naruto's emotions screamed at him to strike, a small voice in the back of his brain urged him to stay his hand. It took a visible effort for Naruto to stop his arms from acting on their own volition. Something didn't make sense here.

"And didn't you! You nearly had me executed for something I would never do!" Naruto raised his kunai, ready to end this once and for all.

"Oh really? I'm the one who made you what you are today. You agreed to everything."

Naruto suddenly reeled back as if stung by Danzo's words. A headache began to pound in his head painfully. "What– are you talking about?!" Naruto hissed out, using one hand to massage his head.

"I think you know exactly what I'm talking about… Kitsune. Would you kindly look through your memories. You will find them most revealing." Danzo's words seemed to project into Naruto's mind, echoing back and forth, bouncing off of the passageways of his memories.

Naruto clutched his head as the headache increased in intensity. The pain was growing and growing. It was too much! "AAAAAHHHHH!" Naruto screamed out, the pain finally exploding in his brain. It felt like a mirror being shattered into thousands of tiny pieces. Naruto lay on the ground, breathing deeply, entire body drenched in sweat. Forcing his eyes open, Naruto focused on the bleary figure of an old man standing above him.

"Now you know the truth, Kitsune-san."

"No…" Naruto mumbled out, even as the memories filtered in. He saw himself wearing an ANBU mask. He saw himself training under Jiraiya. It suddenly made sense. He was being trained to be an assassin. Jiraiya had been in on it from the very beginning. He _had_ betrayed Naruto. The skills he had learned, they weren't for protecting his friends. They were for killing other people. Naruto nearly cried when his mind was assaulted by all these new memories. How could they be true?!

He even found himself recalling that day that changed everything. He saw himself walking calmly into the Hokage's office. Somehow, baa-chan was still sitting behind the desk. She looked up at him with a smile. Then he saw himself return that smile. A sick feeling crawled into his stomach.

He saw himself slide a kunai hidden in his sleeve into his hand. When Tsunade turned to find a file from the shelf behind her, Naruto saw his body pouncing. It struck straight and true. the Naruto lookalike brought its kunai to his baa-chan's unprotected back. But she wasn't Hokage for nothing. Whipping around as she sensed the danger by some sixth sense, Tsunade batted Naruto's stab aside, but she hesitated, confused at Naruto's actions. That was her undoing.

Using only his fingers, Naruto launched the kunai toward Tsunade's side. At that close range, Tsunade couldn't avoid the cut in her side. That was all it took to inject the lethal toxin into the Hokage's bloodstream. Sensing the poison that was beginning to spread through her body, Tsunade jumped back, trying to figure out what was going on.

Then, before she knew it, Naruto had flashed behind her, slamming a half-formed Rasengan into her back. Tsunade staggered forward, but had enough strength to turn and punch straight through Naruto who had leapt forward toward her back.

He disappeared in a cloud of smoke, and Tsunade grunted as the pain lanced through her body. The combination of the Rasengan and poison was taking her down quickly. In the brief respite of the smokescreen, Tsunade analyzed and identified the poison in her bloodstream as quickly as only a medic ninja of her caliber can do. Thinking quickly, the Hokage reached into her cloak, withdrawing an antidote she had been preparing earlier in the day. Infusing it with her chakra, she briefly altered the molecular structure of the antidote. It wasn't specialized for this particular poison, but it would be be sufficient to slow it down.

Swallowing the liquid in one gulp, Tsunade barely had time to throw a shoddy defense together as she was beset on all sides. She couldn't even see her opponent. Was Naruto truly trying to kill her? Crying out as a particularly vicious punch landed into her gut, Tsunade sank to her knees. She considered using her Creation Rebirth seal, but as the smoke cleared, Tsunade looked up into the eyes of the boy whom she had once compared to her own little brother.

They were as cold as an iceberg. Finally, Tsunade could take it no longer, and she gave up to her breaking heart, succumbing to unconsciousness just as she was aware of her office wall being demolished into pieces.

Naruto saw all of this flash before his eyes as he lay there at Danzo's feet. Tears of sorrow, anger, and confusion all flowed freely down Naruto's face, staining the floorboards of the Hokage's office.

"No! It's not true!" Naruto sobbed out. "I wouldn't do that!"

"Shh," Naruto heard someone above him say. "Just sleep."

And sleep Naruto did, falling blissfully into that dark abyss, sobbing in abject terror as everything he had known seemed to be destroyed. But just as he was about to fall over the edge, another memory flitted before his mind. It was the night before the assassination. He saw himself in full ANBU armor and tactical gear, a mask slung to one side of his face. He saw himself kneeling before Danzo. He heard himself say, "I am yours to command."

"Kill Tsunade Senju."

There was a pause. "Yes, master."

* * *

**A/N:** What?! Now how is that for a twist! Explanation in the next chapter. If you were surprised (or not surprised) by the big reveal, tell me why in the reviews! And honestly, don't hit me with the whole implausibility thing right now. I really don't want to hear it, 'cause I don't think anybody's ever tried to weave plot twists like this on the Naruto fandom. I might be wrong, but so far, I haven't read anything like this. Tell me that when I release the next chapter, where answers will come. Oh, and I totally ripped that _Would you kindly_ deal from Bioshock. Shameless, I know, but it works so well. I don't own it.

**A/N 2:** Just a quick edit. Didn't change too much. For those of you who don't like the direction of the story, well... sorry. For everybody who reviewed, answers about Naruto's... condition will come in the next chapter.


	9. Chapter 9: What's Going On!

Chapter 9: What is Going On?!

* * *

Fū was lounging around in the room, basking in the first rays of the morning sun peeking through gaps in the window shades. Naruto wasn't back yet, and the room felt strangely empty and void without him. She sighed and reached over to her nightstand, picking up a small book entitled, _The Tale of the Gutsy Ninja_.

She had been surprised to learn that Jiraiya of all people had authored the book. He was terribly conspicuous despite being an expert spymaster. She had only picked it up when the door suddenly burst open, slamming into the wall.

**BLAM!**

"Who's there?!" Fū shrieked, jumping into panicked action, the kunai hidden under her pillow immediately in her hand. It lowered slightly in shock when she saw Naruto in full tactical armor reeling into the room, clutching his head and groaning in pain.

"Naruto! What's happening?!" Fū cried out as she rushed to her friend and slammed the door shut. Fū's heart rate went into overdrive as a sense of premonition washed over her.

"Fū! Listen closely!" Naruto gasped out, grunting with the exertion it took. It felt like his head was being split apart by a rusty kunai as it was being slammed against an anvil. "We don't have much time!" Naruto cried out before falling to the ground in a heap.

Fū gave a startled yelp before falling to a knee, reaching out to her friend. "Naruto! What–"

"Listen!" Pain laced Naruto's hoarse voice as he forced the words out from his fetal position on the ground. "Danzo did something to my mind! I can't get rid of it! You have to find Jiraiya! Leave Konoha now!"

Fū knelt at Naruto's side, urgently trying to absorb everything that was happening. "Naruto– Are you?–" Fū reached out to Naruto, fear seeping into her very bones.

"Shut up and leave!" Naruto yelled, his eyes snapping open and locking with Fū's. The girl froze, her hand halfway to touching Naruto's arm. She could see a desperate sort of anger within Naruto's eyes, a desperation that shook Fū's very being.

Tears began to form in Naruto's eyes as the pain grew unbearable. Two things remained. Reaching into his gear pouch with a Herculean effort, Naruto thrust a scroll urgently into Fū's hands. "Remember me!"

Fū opened her mouth dumbly to say something, anything. Things were just happening too fast. Suddenly, a seal on the door began to glow red. That was the alarm seal! Someone was coming!

Fū's breathing nearly grew erratic as she realized that this was no longer a game. Things had gone very wrong. Horribly wrong. Stumbling away from Naruto, Fū practically fell against her nightstand, grasping for the things closest to her. The book, her ninja pouch, Naruto's scroll, and her travel pack.

Moving frenziedly toward the one window in the room, Fū looked down at the street below her. It was relatively deserted. Escape, now! Her brain screamed. She turned back once toward the blonde boy writhing in pain on the ground. She just couldn't abandon him.

"**GO**!"

Galvanized into action by the command and her own fear, Fū leapt out the window, her body possessed by the ancient instinct of survival. As Fū landed on the ground, she could hear the door splintering in the room above her. Danger! Seeing that the street was still deserted, Fū fled toward freedom, toward Konoha's gates. As she ran as she had never run before, her shame spilled onto the road with two wet drops.

IIIIIIIIII

As the door splintered open into tiny pieces, two men dressed in tactical armor and gruesome masks rushed into the room. They spared only a glance at the writhing, screaming body on the ground. One ran straight to the window, peeking out to try to catch sight of the Weapon's accomplice. Empty.

He gave a soft grunt, the only indication of the anger at his failure as he rigidly turned back to the Weapon. "Where is he?" He asked menacingly. When he got no reply, he knelt down and grabbed the Weapon by the front of its shirt. "I said," he growled out, "Where is he?!"

The only reply he got was a smile of painful, but grim satisfaction. "Why don't you fu– **Aaaggh!**" The ANBU sneered smugly from behind his mask as electricity coursed from his hand into the insolent Weapon.

"I'll ask you this one more time–" He began. He never finished.

Using all of his remaining strength, Naruto shot his arm out like greased lightning, taking the ANBU by surprise. Naruto's fist smashed into brute's throat, shattering the larynx, rendering the man mute for the rest of his life. It wouldn't be long as he slowly choked to death.

The ANBU's partner gave a shout of surprise before stepping forward. He glanced once at his comrade and then at the Weapon. Snarling, he cocked his fist back and swung it.

A black mass barreling at his head was the last thing Naruto saw.

IIIIIIIIII

"How is the subject?" A wrinkly voice asked.

"Well, sir. The memory seals have been fully integrated. The subject should be completely stable now."

"Good."

"Uh… sir?" The doctor asked tentatively. "We haven't been able to successfully access the subject's memories during the time of his escape. We believe the subject also had an accomplice. However, we believe that the subject employed the use of a mental technique of sorts to subconsciously block off certain memories. How should we proceed?"

"That is unimportant for you to know. Dismissed." The old man turned and opened a set of doors, ignoring the slightly flustered doctor.

There were no windows in this underground room, only a small flickering light in the corner. In the middle of the room was a blonde teenager strapped onto an operating table. There was a restraining seal drawn on the boy's bare torso.

The old man only stared impassively. He reached up with a hand and touched the seal. It shattered as the restraints holding the boy fell off. The blonde boy's eyes suddenly snapped open as he saw the man in front of him. Moving swiftly, the dropped from the table and fell onto a knee.

"Master."

A pause. "Kitsune."

"I am yours to command, Lord Danzo."

Danzo looked neither pleased nor upset. He only waved his hand. The door opened to two ANBU who dragged a limp body between them. They dumped it in front of Kitsune in a heap and withdrew from the room.

"He is a traitor to Konoha." Danzo's words were simple. "Kill him."

Kitsune looked at the man in front of his knee. He was breathing heavily, probably from the bruises littered on his face. _Kill him…_ The order echoed in Kitsune's mind, and hesitation flashed briefly in his eyes, a hint of the inner struggle.

Kitsune's hand rose slowly but steadily above the man's throat. Methodically like a machine, swiftly like a bird of prey, Kitsune's hand cut down at the man's throat. The snap was sickening.

Had Kitsune lifted his head, he would have seen a satisfied look flit across Danzo's face.

"Good." Danzo turned and began to walk toward the door. "Rise Kitsune, and come. We have something to discuss."

Kitsune rose and looked around. He saw his shirt hanging on the door. followed his master out the door quietly. "I live to serve."

The mismatched pair walked side by side in silence. Finally, Danzo spoke. "Konoha's enemies are mobilizing. This is the perfect time to strike."

"How so, Danzo-sama?"

"There is tension between Kirigakure and Iwagakure. They are feuding over islands off of Iwa's coast on the Great Ocean."

"I assume you want me to escalate those tensions?"

"Yes."

Kitsune paused, soaking in this information. "But why me?"

"Your wrist," Danzo said simply, still looking straight ahead as the two walked down the subterranean hallway.

Kitsune looked at the seal on his wrist and realized exactly what Danzo had planned.

"You want me frame Kirigakure somehow."

"Yes."

Another pause. "How?"

"Iwa has a band of dignitaries making a visit to Konoha. They are here to try and gain information and to forge a new trade treaty."

"Then are they truly our enemies?" Kitsune asked, his voice gaining a hint of curiosity.

Danzo stopped. He gave Kitsune a chilling glare. "It is your place to obey, not to question."

Fear crawled down Kitsune's spine. "Yes, Danzo-sama."

"Good. A Konoha squad and an Iwa squad have been assigned to protect them."

Kitsune nodded, cowed into submission.

"The rest is up to you. You have no official orders. If you are found out, the seal on your stomach will kill you instantly. Do not let that happen."

Kitsune shuddered as his memories recalled that a kill-seal had been written onto his stomach at his initiation into Root.

The two then reached a doorway at the end of the hallway. Danzo stopped and turned back to Kitsune. "You understand your mission?"

"Yes, master."

"Good. Dismissed." The old man then disappeared behind the imposing doors, leaving Kitsune alone to dwell on many thoughts.

IIIIIIIII

A young girl was sitting with her back against a wall, hidden away from the sun by the dark alleyway. She was crying. She had abandoned her friend. Fear had gotten the better of her. Fū's sobs grew more intense as she remembered the first time fear like that had gripped her heart.

Shibuki…

Now she had abandoned Naruto too. Fū gave a strangled scream of frustration as she buried her head in her arms.

The fear that had seized her then came roaring back to the surface. She couldn't fight it. Not even after burying it deep down. Now her only friend was most likely dead. Or worse.

As Fū's guilt racked her inner core, the bright sun of noon became the burning orange of the evening. Fū only realized this when a shadow fell across her face, stained with dried tears. She looked up at a bulky figure.

"If you want to help him, you've gotta stop your crying and get up off of your butt."

IIIIIIIII

Kitsune's hands moved robotically, analyzing the materials sitting on the table before him. He was going to assassinate a group of dignitaries and frame it on a Kiri nin. The job would have to be precise and careful. Very careful. He flipped though his copy of Kiri's bingo book.

Hitoshi Tanaka. He was a jonin, but a nominal one at best, considering his skills set. Perfect. Strong enough to assassinate a guarded politician but weak enough to leave behind witnesses. He also had a scar on his left cheek. A good identifier and excuse for a shoddy mask that wouldn't completely cover the scar. Eye color, brown. A quick jutsu could change blue to brown easily. Hitoshi had some skill in kenjutsu as well. Perfect.

This was the guy. Kitsune began assembling his gear given to him from Root's stock of espionage materials. It was shiny new and completely forged. A certain amount of stress would have to be applied onto the armor for the facade to hold up under any sort of scrutiny. When everything was swapped out, Kitsune stretched a bit. It certainly had a new, unbroken-in kind of feel. Time to change that.

Forming a hand seal, a water clone slowly took form. It took a surprising amount of effort, considering that there was no water around. Kitsune took note of this limitation before launching into battle with his water clone. He defeated it easily.

As the water splashed over the floor, the young assassin reformed the water clone and in addition formed two shadow clones. Clutching his fists, Kitsune threw himself forward, easily falling into one of the more common taijutsu styles of Kiri.

Thoughts of his journeys in Kiri with Jiraiya absently filtered through Kitsune's mind. Of course, it wasn't as innocent as he once remembered. It was training. There was a time when there would have been hatred for Jiraiya for keeping this from him, but Kitsune had a new purpose in life. He was Root.

IIIIIIIII

Naruto fidgeted restlessly. He had scouted his locations the night before, and now, he was lying in wait for his prey. The Iwa party was scheduled to leave Konoha this morning. This was the perfect spot to take care of them. There was a small pond nearby, and it was just outside of Konoha's borders. The Konoha guard squad would return once the dignitaries crossed the border, so if he timed it right, it could seem like a blunder if he were to alert the Konoha shinobi prematurely.

But as he sat there, planning his assassination, Kitsune's mind began to war with itself. Where the previous day his will was sure, chinks were beginning to appear in the armor, although you wouldn't have been able to tell behind his savage fox mask.

The likeness of the nine-tailed fox, its tails splashing across the white of the mask, was a fearful sight to behold and didn't betray any of Naruto's emerging doubts. Was this right? Could he do this? Yes. He was Kitsune. Death.

The young man-turned-assassin sat quietly in the trees. He was about 500 feet away from the main travel paths between Konoha and Iwa. Within an hour, the dignitaries and their bodyguards would pass by.

When that happened, Hitoshi Tanaka would execute an assassination and escape inexplicably. _But why have I been assigned to do this?_ Naruto thought, with a small amount of distress. A slight headache began to knock against the back of his skull.

Shaking it aside, Kitsune adjusted the armor straps and did a final check on the seal containing the Kubikiri. Everything was perfect. His face mask covered only the lower half of his face. His eyes were brown, via a clever genjutsu. His forged Kiri headband was stored in his ninja pouch. Planting it would be his final resort. There were Kiri's signature kunai were also stored in his weapons pouch. Dressed in all black and gray, Kitsune knew that he looked every bit the assassin. Removing his Fox mask, he gave a feral grin full of bloodlust. The hunt was on.

IIIIIIIII

The two parties gave each other the customary farewell at the border. The Konoha nin were all too happy to be rid of the pretentious politicians from Iwa, while the Iwa guard squads groaned at the final leg of the journey. Neither were truly expecting there to be trouble.

Hidden away on the side of the path was a white-haired man and a green-haired girl. Both were waiting in quiet tension. They _were_ expecting trouble.

The two groups parted ways, their backs to each other. It was nary a minute later when death struck.

IIIIIIIII

There was only a whisper. A barrage of kunai burst from the trees, taking the front two politicians. Their screams pierced the air, their blood splashing onto the path. Chaos struck the Iwa nin.

"What the–!"

"Defensive positions!" Yelled the captain.

"Where is he?!"

"Protect the dignitaries!"

But it was too late. A masked assassin appeared like a wraith behind the third and final politician. The civilian was too slow to even register that his arbiter stood poised to stab a kunai into his neck. The bodyguards were too far away to do anything either.

Everybody looked on in horror as the kunai sliced into the man's neck.

IIIIIIII

**CRACK**! Kitsune groaned as he pulled himself off of the splintered tree he was just kicked into. It was only luck and speed that had allowed him to block the ridiculously overpowered kick aimed at his chest.

Dusting himself off, Kitsune saw who his assailant was. Jiraiya of the Sannin. Wonderful. As the Iwa nin gathered their bearings and regrouped, a heavy mist began to roll in. Kitsune grinned behind his mask. That shadow clone was a good idea.

IIIIIII

Jiraiya was beginning to curse the fact that he had trained Naruto so well. Who knew that those skills would be used for something like this. It was only the scroll that Naruto had passed on to him through Fū that allowed him to save those three civilians with a substitution jutsu. He had dragged them back out into the open, where they would be safer around the other ninja.

"Triad formation around the targets!" Jiraiya called out to the Iwa nin. This was the best way for a group to guard against the Hidden Mist Jutsu.

To their credit, the two chunin looked to their captain, who nodded. He was an older jonin who recognized Jiraiya of the Sannin. He was their best chance of survival. "Triad Formation!"

Galvanized into action, the three formed a triangle around their terrified charges. Whoever this Kiri assassin was, he wasn't getting past them. Then they heard the chuckling.

"Eight vital points. Eight ways to die. Painfully." It sounded demonic almost.

"Why don't you show yourself, Kiri scum!" The jonin captain cried out defiantly, seeing the terror in his comrades' eyes.

Suddenly it clicked for Jiraiya. Everything Fū told him the day before suddenly made sense. Danzo, the tensions between Kiri and Iwa, everything made sense, and Jiraiya was afraid. He had to stop Naruto now.

Suddenly, a politician screamed in abject terror, another yelling at the two dark shapes falling upon them from above.

IIIIII

Two water clones dropped down swiftly, their kunai curved like eagles' talons latching onto an unlucky mouse. The two chunin engaged briefly, but they were surprised when both clones suddenly switched opponents.

They were wide-eyed as they saw their lives flash before their eyes, their deaths being borne on Kiri kunai aimed at their guts.

Then water suddenly exploded over them, soaking them to the bone. Jiraiya stood grim-faced behind them, two Rasengan still rotating in his hands.

There was no time for thanks as another three water clones rushed at Jiraiya, another two clones attacking the jonin captain. Quickly realizing the ploy, Jiraiya looked to the dignitaries. They were the real targets. "Duck!" He yelled, an order the two chunin followed immediately.

Spinning wildly, Jiraiya expanded his twin Rasengan, quickly dispatching the three water clones. Using his momentum, Jiraiya snapped backwards with a kick, aiming at the one vulnerable spot of the Triad formation. The center. As a water clone appeared in the center, holding the giant Kubikiri for one devastating cut, Jiraiya's kick landed on the clone's head a split second later.

Letting his Rasengan die down, Jiraiya was glad to see that the jonin had dispatched of the water clones with only a cut on his sleeve.

Hidden in the mist, Kitsune chuckled again, letting the evil sound reverberate in the mist.

IIIIIII

Suddenly, Kitsune appeared in front of the jonin, the Kubikiri held in his hand. He could see the shock in the man's eyes, and Kitsune felt a savage satisfaction in knowing that his enemy would die here. Then a deep shock quaked in Naruto's heart. He hesitated for a second. That was enough for the jonin, who took out his kunai and braced himself.

Kitsune quashed his doubts and snarled – more at himself – and swung the Kubikiri with all his might. It clashed against the Iwa nin's kunai, but held fast. The jonin was good.

"Kiri will pay for this, assassin!"

Kitsune sneered, knowing that his mask had slid down, revealing a portion of a scar on his cheek.

"Not if you're dead."

Reversing his grip, Kitsune swung the sword around and attacked the jonin's opposite flank, bringing the full force of the sword to bear. The jonin stood no chance. Battering away the pesky obstacle, Naruto stood in front of the cowering politicians. The perfect chance to strike. But he hesitated.

_DANGER_! Naruto's senses suddenly screamed as a mass appeared to his left. Quickly shifting the sword with a curse, Kitsune used the flat side as a huge shield, blocking most of the concussive force of the powerful kick.

It wasn't enough to stop him from flying off the path into the woods.

IIIIIIII

Just as Jiraiya landed from his snap kick, a group of three Konoha nin dropped onto the scene. They were surprised to see the legendary Sannin there.

"Jiraiya-sama!" The captain called out. "Is everything alright?! We heard the screams and saw the mist and rushed back!"

"Everything's fine!" Jiraiya said. "Stay here and guard the clients! The assassin's in the woods. I'm going after him!" With that, the sage leapt off with a heavy heart to finish this battle with his student.

IIIIIII

Kitsune stopped his skid with a grunt, pulling the Kubikiri out of the deep cleft he left in the ground. He had to stop letting Jiraiya do that. In a painful manner.

"NO!" Naruto cried out, the shock of his thoughts hitting home. He couldn't kill ero-sennin. "What's happening to me?!" Naruto screamed, falling onto his knees as a headache thumped against his skull.

Then it receded. It didn't matter. He was Kitsune. He was Root.

_Above you!_ Kitsune's instincts cried out. Rolling forward and narrowly avvoiding Jiraiya's drop kick, Kitsune jumped up, poised on the balls of his feet. He snarled. "You can't stop me."

Jiraiya only sighed as he faced his student. "Naruto, this isn't you. You have to break free."

Kitsune only narrowed his eyes before launching himself forward, a Rasengan forming in his hand. When he was two feet away, Jiraiya suddenly formed an equally large Rasengan, whipping it forward into his student's Rasengan. The collision of the two forces shot both ninja backwards.

But as Jiraiya was blasted back, he realized what was wrong from Naruto's residual chakra signature. There was a seal embedded into Naruto's mind. Somehow, there was also some type of disruptive seal on the Eight Trigrams seal on Naruto's stomach. Jiraiya would bet anything that it was the seal on the stomach that was the problem.

Picking himself up, Jiraiya dusted himself off, drawing chakra into his hand. His student was good, very good in fact. _A testament to my teaching skills_, Jiraiya thought with an ironic sense of satisfaction. _But you're predictable brat._

Spinning around, Jiraiya thrust his palm forward into the spot he knew Naruto would be. As Jiraiya completed his motion, Naruto flashed into existence in front of Jiraiya's palm, his anger morphing into shock as he realized too late what had happened.

Jiraiya's Disruption Seal slammed into Naruto's stomach, sending the young blonde reeling backwards. The genjutsu around his eyes broke and the seals on Naruto's body began to go crazy.

"I'm sorry kid."

IIIIIII

Naruto screamed as it felt like his insides were literally being ripped out. A burning feeling began to boil from the pit of his stomach.

**"YOU PATHETIC WEAKLING!"** A voice roared with fury. Naruto could barely recognize it, but it was familiar somehow. The burning feeling over his body was familiar too. In his screaming, though, as his mind felt like it was shattering into a million pieces again, a single thought echoed throughout Naruto's brain.

_Kitsune… Kitsune… Kitsune…_

Kitsune knew what he had to do. There wasn't much time. Looking up at Jiraiya, there was no anger, only a blankness as he saw Jiraiya's confused expression turn into alarm as he rushed forward. It was too late.

IIIIIII

Naruto crashed into the ground amid a brilliant yellow-red flash, screaming as he clutched his head, a red, burning chakra cloaking his body. He could see Danzo's face standing above him. There was no compulsion to obey, no hatred, only pain. For the first time in a while, Naruto's mind was clear. He could remember everything, and he was relieved.

Before Naruto succumbed to darkness, he could see the displeased look on Danzo's face, and Naruto was pleased. Despite the pain in his entire body, Naruto smiled. He had thrown a wrench in the bastard's plans.

* * *

**A/N:** Hey guys. Late update, I know, but I have exams I desperately need to study for. Anyhow, I took a different approach with this chapter, playing with the scene cuts a little bit, trying to simulate a snapshot kind of feel. Did it work? Yes, no? I also played around with the Kitsune/Naruto business, trying to create a sense of duality and confusion. I thought it was pretty cool, but what do you think? I'm throwing in the twists a bit here, but explanations will come in future chapters. But I can answer the question that, "No, Naruto is not a member of Root. Danzo was simply messing with his mind." How? Stay tuned.


	10. Chapter 10: Separation

Chapter 10: Separation

* * *

"How is the subject?" Asked the shadowy figure.

"My lord." It was a scientist-looking fellow who answered. "The subject's mind is stable. Unfortunately, the subject has almost totally purged the hypnotic-suggestion seals. The trigger phrase will no longer work. "

The shadow gave a thoughtful "Hmm"_. Unfortunate, but to be expected._ "And the implanted memories?"

The scientist cleared his throat. This was where it got a little tricky. "None of the implanted memories remain intact, my lord. However, the post-psychological effects of those seals are so complex, that we haven't been able to fully map out the subject's psychological profile." He trailed off, nervously fingering his collar.

Unseen by the medical supervisor, the figure in the shadows raised an eyebrow. "Is the subject stable, or not?"

Another clearing of the throat. "Uh… We believe that yes, the subject is stable. However, we are unsure of how much stress can be endured before that changes."

_This is the problem with using experimental seals to alter someone's psychology. It is never quite as successful as you hope._ "Dismissed, doctor."

The doctor waddled his feet a bit, looking confused at the dismissal. "Sir?"

"I said… dismissed." If there was any doubt in his movements before, there was none now. The doctor bolted from the room in fear, the menacing chill in the room chasing him out. The figure stepped out of the shadows, revealing a wrinkled face half-covered with bandages.

The old man looked at the prone body lying on the operating table. "What are we going to do with you?" It was a frustrating issue, but one that merited respect. To withstand the psyche-seals took an incredibly strong mind and will. _Very respectable, but troublesome, considering that I do not want to use my trump card just yet._

Because of the possibility of premature failure – and thus the destabilization of the subject – the transfer would have to happen now. "We transfer the Weapon now. Prepare the new container."

"Yes, Danzo-sama." The ANBU disappeared with a whisper, leaving Danzo alone to contemplate the possible outcomes.

IIIIIIIIII

The first thing Naruto felt was darkness. Then pain. Opening his eyes, Naruto looked around at the dismal scene before him. He was in a sewer. This was a familiar scene. Following the tugging his gut, Naruto found himself once again in front of that massive cage. The Kyuubi.

"What do you want?" Naruto asked the darkness.

There was silence. Suddenly two massive, blood-red eyes opened. **"YOU WEAKLING."** There was no hint of the usual malice.

Naruto scoffed. "Hello to you too."

**"YOU DON'T SEEM TO UNDERSTAND. WE'RE GOING TO DIE."** The Kyuubi said, the rest of his face becoming visible as the fox moved to the edge of the cage.

Naruto almost laughed, if it weren't for the apparent seriousness on the fox's face. "You think we're going to die?"

**"I KNOW IT. I'VE FELT THEIR POKING AND PRODDING FOR A WHILE NOW."**

"Wait, what? Poking? Prodding? What are you talking about?" Naruto asked, humoring the fox.

**"THEY'RE GOING TO TRY TO TRANSFER ME TO ANOTHER CONTAINER. IT WILL END IN FAILURE, THOUGH."** The Kyuubi sounded resigned. **"I SURMISED IT WHEN I WAS SEALED OFF FROM YOU COMPLETELY."**

"Wait! When were you sealed off from me like that? How did they even do that without me knowing about it?" Naruto asked, confused. He had learned not to let anybody come near him with dangerous seals. There was just too much unknowns flying around here. He had to make sense of it all.

**"YOU WERE GETTING A CHECKUP OR SOME OTHER NONSENSE AT THE HOSPITAL."** The Kyuubi replied, quickly getting bored of this conversation.

"But that was when they put the kill seal on me…" Naruto trailed off, his mind racing. "Then that means, there is no kill seal!" Naruto exclaimed, remembering that a seal had been placed on him during his checkup. He had not been paying close attention.

"The seal they put on me was the one sealing you off! Then they must have transplanted those memories into my head with that mind seal! That's why their mind seal worked. You couldn't help me," Naruto said, beginning to connect the dots. Danzo must have had medical personnel under his employ if they were able to infiltrate Naruto's checkup. A competent seal user too, considering the complexity a psyche-altering seal would require, not to mention the Biju suppression seal. That was scary business.

Naruto looked over to see the Kyuubi's head on his front paws, eyes closed, softly snoring.

"You're apathy's killing me…" he deadpanned. The momentary silence caused the fox to stir, sensing that Naruto had stopped speaking.

**"OH. YOU'RE DONE. GOOD. I CAN DIE IN PEACE AT LEAST."**

Naruto stepped back, first offended, then taken by surprise. "You still think we're gonna die?!"

**"OF COURSE. I CAN FEEL THE ENERGIES OF THIS SEAL WEAKENING ****ALREADY."**

"And you're not worried at all?! You're not going to try to break out or something?!" Naruto cried out, looking around in panic, the idea of death beginning to sink in.

**"BRAT. I'VE MADE PEACE WITH MYSELF. YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT DECADES OF CAPTIVITY CAN DO TO A BIJU OF MY STATURE."**

Naruto paused to seriously look at the demon fox in front of him. This was a dimension to the fox that he had never seen before. It had always been, **I'll kill you!** with the fox before. It was this change in tone that really hit home with Naruto. He was going to die here.

"Well, that's good for you, but what about me? I'm not ready to go yet!" Naruto said angrily. Death didn't sit well with him.

**"TCH! YOU'LL GET BY. YOU ALWAYS DO."** The fox scoffed, looking down at his container.

Naruto growled at the fox. "I think you're lying! There's no way I'm dying here! I've still got dreams to fulfill, believe it!" Naruto snarled in anger before turning on his heel and stomping away, partly in anger, partly in fear.

"DO YOU HEAR ME?!" Naruto screamed defiantly at the sewer walls. "I'M NOT DYING TODAY, BELIEVE IT!"

The fox only stared at Naruto's back, a mixture of dismissal, amusement, and pity in his eyes.

Naruto's chest heaved in anger, his feverish energy burning away in that single instant of white hot anger. He turned back to the Kyuubi in disgust. There was silence between the two for a while, and it was in that silence that Naruto realized the truth. He was going to die here. He could feel it in the air. He could see the signs of breakage in his mindscape. His entire being was becoming unraveled by some force larger than him, outside of him.

Naruto thought about defying fate and finding a way out of his predicament – of running around in these sewers, yelling at his body to wake up – but in his bones, he felt the inevitability of what was to come. Naruto found that he was scared of death. He was utterly afraid of it, and he didn't want to die.

The Kyuubi only looked thoughtfully at the boy before him. There was a time when he would have done anything to be free of his shackles. Now though, perhaps he was getting soft, but he was content to let fate guide him.

**"BOY. OF MY THREE CONTAINERS, YOU ARE THE WEAKEST,"** the fox said suddenly, catching Naruto by surprise.

"Eh, thanks…" Naruto replied, still occupied with the idea of dying. "Wait, weakest?!" Naruto asked indignantly, his brain processing the Kyuubi's words.

**"NOW THOUGH,"** The Kyuubi ignored Naruto, **"I'D SAY THAT YOU had THE POTENTIAL TO BECOME THE STRONGEST."**

"You mean I'm still the weakest?" Naruto asked incredulously.

The Kyuubi blinked. **"YES. YOU'RE JUST VERY LUCKY, SOMEHOW."**

Naruto winced as a lance of pain stabbed through his chest. A dull ache was beginning to creep over his entire body, slowly but surely. It was a reflection of the crumbling occurring in the walls around him and the gate in front of him. Everything looked older, rustier, more corroded somehow.

"Not anymore, I suppose." Naruto thought about his life and the short 17 years that he lived. "It's been good though. I've made friends, and I've had fun. I've seen a lot of the world, and I have people who accept me and love me."

Naruto couldn't help but let a tear escape from his eyes. "I'll miss them." Naruto thought of Jiraiya, Kakashi, Tsunade, Fu, Sakura, Sasuke, and the rest of the Konoha 11. It was 10 now, considering that he was now a missing nin.

He suddenly realized what the fox meant when he said that he had made peace with himself. Looking back at the things he had done in his life and the people in his life, Naruto found peace.

"I know what you mean, about making peace," Naruto said suddenly, his voice loud in the silence. Cracks were beginning to appear in the walls.

Naruto waited for the fox to say something, but he was disappointed. "You don't speak a lot, huh?"

**"AND WHY SHOULD I?"**

"I don't know. Maybe you'd make more friends that way," Naruto responded, scratching the back of his head. This conversation was just surreal.

**"AND YOU'RE GOING TO BE THAT FRIEND, I ASSUME?"** The Kyuubi snorted derisively. **"DON'T MAKE ME LAUGH!"**

"Hey, don't put yourself down," Naruto said with a smirk. "Even a furball like you can still be my friend."

The fox only narrowed his eyes at the insolent boy. **"YOU MUST THINK YOU'RE CLEVER, BOY."** The two stared at each other. **"YOU'RE NOT."**

Naruto only chuckled before wincing. "Ow. I have a stomach ache all of a sudden."

**"IT'S BEGUN IN EARNEST. NOW UNTIL THE FAILSAFE ACTIVATION, IT'LL BE PAINFUL."**

"Oh gee, thanks for that!" Naruto said sarcastically, the pangs gradually getting worse. Then something clicked in his brain. "Wait, failsafe?"

The Kyuubi blinked once. **"YOU DON'T KNOW ABOUT THE FAILSAFE?"**

"No!" Naruto said, trying to think on any of the lessons Jiraiya may have had about the eight trigrams seal. "What kind of failsafe is this?"

**"THE FOURTH WAS NO FOOL, BRAT. HE KNEW WHAT KIND OF PEOPLE WOULD WANT MY POWER. HE DESIGNED A FAILSAFE THAT CHANNELS THE ENERGIES OF MY CHAKRA LIKE A BOMB SHOULD THE SEAL BE FORCEFULLY OPENED WITHOUT THE KEY."**

Naruto was wide-eyed. "My dad would never do that to me!"

**"YOU FORGET. HE WAS HOKAGE AS WELL. WHY DO YOU THINK SECURITY WAS ALWAYS SO TIGHT AROUND YOU AS A CHILD?"**

The Kyuubi was making sense, and that was what was scaring Naruto. "No! That's not true!" Naruto denied, even as the pain grew stronger. "How would you even know something like this?!"

**"YOU FORGET HOW LONG I'VE HAD TO STUDY MY PRISON, BRAT!"** The Kyuubi growled in annoyance. **"WHATEVER YOU CHOOSE TO BELIEVE, THAT'S YOUR PROBLEM. NOW LET ME SLEEP IN PEACE."**

The demon fox then receded from the cage, shutting himself off from Naruto, causing the young Jinchuuriki to feel an acute sense of emptiness. It was a familiar feeling, one he had felt while under the influence of the mind seal. At least that was one mystery solved.

But this new revelation from the Kyuubi had shattered Naruto's world view yet again. Unfortunately, the time for thinking was done. Now, the pain began in earnest and the screaming began.

IIIIIII

"How is he?" It was an old voice, weathered, but still strong.

"Doing well. Stable at least." A tired voice replied.

"And the Weapon?"

"It's stabilized. The new host is adapting as we speak, rather quickly, I might add."

"Good. I trust the failsafe was no problem?"

"Not at all. I know most of Minato's design quirks pretty well."

"Good, very good. This will be a huge boon to Konoha. I appreciate the work you've done."

"Of course. Like you say, Danzo. We ought to have the best for Konoha in mind." You could hear a hint of regret in his voice.

Danzo nodded. "Of course. Like I said, thank you for your work... Jiraiya."

* * *

**A/N:** What?! Jiraiya really _is_ in cahoots with Danzo?! Or so it would seem. All I have to say on this is that I am a fan of Jiraiya personally, and this was an unusually short chapter. Do you think Jiraiya is in this, or not? He has been acting suspicious lately. But he freed Naruto from the mind seal... So what's going on?! Review with your thoughts, although I can't promise any spoilers being revealed prematurely.


	11. Chapter 11: Betrayal

Chapter 11: Betrayal

* * *

Naruto opened his eyes, finding himself back in the sewers of his mind. Looking around blankly for a few seconds, Naruto suddenly had an epiphany. If he was here, then he wasn't dead. If he wasn't dead… then that meant–

Running past the halls, Naruto raced around frantically. He couldn't feel it. It was gone. There was no familiar tug in his gut. There was nothing. After an eternity of backtracking, Naruto finally found it. At the sight before him, Naruto fell to his knees, feeling a strange mixture of despair and hope.

There was a feeling of desolation and loneliness that Naruto had never experienced before. The doors of the cage, usually pristine and strong, separating Naruto from the Kyuubi, now were thrown open, the metal rusted and falling away. Naruto looked within the prison where the Kyuubi usually resided. There was nothing. The Kyuubi was really gone.

Another thought suddenly occurred to Naruto.

"I'm not a Jinchuuriki anymore…"

This was what he had wanted ever since he found out about the Kyuubi. He had wanted friendship and acceptance, and he wanted to be free of his curse. Now though, Naruto found himself regretting that wish. Perhaps he was being delusional, but ironically, after the last conversation he had with the fox, it seemed like they could have been friends. Possibly. When the oceans dried up.

Naruto half-smiled ruefully. Maybe it was too much too wish to ever be friends with the fox. "I think I could've miss you, you big furball," The blonde said to the darkness, reaching out a hand as if to reach for somebody, before letting it fall back to his side. Naruto sighed before he turned and walked away.

He didn't notice that something in the darkness stirred ever so slightly in its deep slumber.

IIIIIII

Naruto woke up, finding himself strapped to a table, his entire upper body bared. It felt like his whole body was throbbing with a dull sort of pain. He blinked the grogginess away from his eyes and gained his bearings. He was in what appeared to be an operating room, an IV drip feeding who knows what into his bloodstream.

Judging by the dull pain all over his body, it contained a sedative and anesthetic. He would have to get it off as soon as possible.

Flexing his muscles to test the manacles holding him in place, Naruto sighed in expected frustration. Naruto then tried channeling some chakra. To his surprise, he felt a surge for a second, then it dissipated. Confused, Naruto tried again, trying to follow where exactly the chakra was going.

It felt like the chakra was being absorbed by the metal? Naruto glanced at the shackles on his wrists and ankles and the metal strip holding his stomach down. They were gathering his chakra and then diffusing it or something. Naruto frowned.

Maybe he could try natural chakra. Stilling his body, Naruto gathered the minute amounts of natural chakra in the artificial, sterile operating room. Naruto's eyes suddenly snapped open, wide with fear as he tried to expel whatever natural chakra was in his body. Naruto's breathing grew erratic as he felt his hand slowly change into a webbed hand with warts.

"Stop!" Naruto cried out desperately, as if it could expel the natural chakra. The young boy struggled wildly his restraints as he felt the natural chakra begin to overwhelm his system. Naruto thrashed about in fear until he felt the natural chakra slowly leak out of his body. Naruto shuddered with relief, realizing how close to death he had come. Any more natural chakra, and he would have undergone petrification. Naruto's entire body shook from the near-death experience.

Naruto cursed whomever had designed the restraints. They weren't like chakra suppression seals, which could be broken with a quick burst of natural chakra. These things messed up the delicate balance needed for senjutsu by diffusing chakra as its being channeled. When he finally controlled his breathing and his moment of panic, Naruto tried to reassess his situation.

He hadn't experienced the sensation of being overwhelmed by natural chakra in a long time. Naruto fought against the restraints one more time before giving up, metal overcoming flesh and bones. Naruto let his head fall against the table, the thud resounding with Naruto's frustration and fear. He had to get out and figure out what was going on.

Naruto suddenly thought about Fū, and his heart clenched. He hoped that she was safe. Another reason to get out of here. Naruto glanced at the restraints one more time, trying to see if there was anything out of the ordinary. A switch suddenly went off in Naruto's head.

Before the attack, Naruto had repurposed the summoning seal on the Kubikiri, programming it for himself. The new seal could be used to summon the Kubikiri to his hands from anywhere on a small battlefield. If his luck held, Danzo would have been careless. A vestige of hate flashed past Naruto's mind as he thought about Danzo, but it was gone just as quickly.

Naruto was beyond that now. His feelings had been manipulated by Danzo. Naruto wasn't going to give that bastard that satisfaction again.

Naruto thought back to his battle with Jiraiya. _Ero-sennin hit me with a Seal Disruptor,_ he thought belatedly. _That means that my summoning seal is probably scrambled. I won't be able to summon the Kubikiri without it._

"Dammit!" Naruto growled. The seals on his person were scrambled. No seals, no Kubikiri. No Kubikiri, no escape. If only he had ink.

Suddenly, another idea occurred to Naruto. Ink wasn't always necessary for seals. It was best because it conducted chakra so well, but anything fluid would do. It would be significantly harder to channel chakra through a less stable medium, but he had been taught by the best.

The issue then was the sealing medium and the metal restraints that were absorbing his chakra. In anger, Naruto flared his chakra, straining against the metal bindings. After a few seconds, the chakra was absorbed and Naruto slumped back down, the pain increasing in intensity.

But through the pain, one thought occurred to Naruto. The metal bindings could only absorb chakra at a constant rate! The absorption rate was too fast to build up chakra, but not if he were channeling the chakra into something else. If he could increase his output of chakra, he could potentially outpace the absorption!

Naruto began to grow excited. Escape was becoming more and more probable. Now for the sealing medium. The blonde captive licked his lips as the driving need to escape translated into a dry thirst. Wait… Lips… Dry… _That's it!_ Naruto thought giddily. Gathering his spit in his mouth, Naruto gathered it until there was a good amount in his mouth. Naruto grimaced at what he was about to do, but desperate times…

He would have only one shot at this. Taking careful aim, Naruto spat out his saliva and watched it sail through the air before landing with a plop on his right hand. Gross… but perfect. Moving quickly, Naruto rubbed his saliva on the tips of his fingers and began forming the necessary kanji on the operating table. Without even looking, born from the hours of practice drawing seals and various kanji, Naruto knew that he created a perfect seal… out of his saliva. Again, gross. Placing a finger over his temporary seal, Naruto began to channel chakra at a hurried rate.

He could feel the metal bindings trying to keep up, but there was more chakra than they could gather. That was good. Naruto increased the rate of his output, biting back the fatigue, dizziness, and mind-numbing pain seeping into him. Gritting his teeth, Naruto hoped that he had enough chakra to outlast this.

The seconds stretched ever longer as sweat accumulated on Naruto's brow. After an excruciating thirty seconds, Naruto felt his chakra cross the threshold. Grunting in victory, Naruto activated the summoning seal with all of the chakra channeled into the seal, causing a cloud of smoke to erupt around him.

Naruto felt a handle fall neatly into his right palm and grinned in satisfaction – he hadn't thought that it would work – and took a moment to gather his breath. Naruto felt incredibly drained all of a sudden, reminded once again of the fact that the Kyuubi was no longer with him.

With the Kubikiri resting against the ground on his right side, the next bit would be tricky, as he only had enough strength for one strike, and if he missed, it would be his arm that he chopped off, not the metal shackle.

Calculating the distance, Naruto clenched his fist around the handle of the Kubikiri and began twisting, grunting at the exertion it took. Growling at the effort, Naruto slowly and painfully began to draw the Kubikiri in its upward climb. Naruto's wrist muscles began to burn almost immediately, screaming in protest.

As the sword began to slowly rise, Naruto felt his wrist ready to give way. It was just too heavy. _No!_ Naruto screamed in his mind. "If I give up here, I'll never get out!" Naruto yelled defiantly. He didn't care who was watching or listening. He just had to get out!

Giving a final yell, Naruto gave his wrist a final yank, causing the massive Kubikiri to cross the vertical position. Gravity suddenly became Naruto's ally as the giant sword swung lethally down. Naruto closed his eyes, hoping he had calculated correctly.

**CLANG!** Naruto muttered a silent thank you under his breath as he ripped his left arm free from the metal cuffs holding him in place. _How did Zabuza flick this thing around like a toy?_ Naruto thought with a newfound respect for the missing nin.

Quickly gripping the Kubikiri now in his left hand, Naruto brought it down against the cuff over his right hand. It took a couple more tries and more painful arm exercises, as Naruto didn't want to continue to tempt fate, but the Kubikiri easily sliced through Naruto's bonds.

He was free, though! Gripping the sword with both hands, Naruto sawed through the restraints over his stomach. When the metal was weak enough, Naruto sat up violently, tearing the metal off of his stomach. Just as he sat up, the door to Naruto's opened, revealing a doctor and an ANBU.

Naruto was still shackled at his ankles, and the ANBU was fully armed. Not good. There was a split second pause as the pair stared at the half-naked boy, a little confused and taken aback at the sight before them.

**NO TIME! ACT NOW! **A voice seemed to scream in Naruto's head, causing the blonde to suddenly move, grasping at the IV needle in his arm.

Before any other move could be made, Naruto severed the tube and hurled the small projectile at the exposed neck of the front ANBU. Although caught suddenly off guard, the ANBU was extremely fast and ducked down out of the way, narrowly avoiding the sharp needle. The doctor behind wasn't so lucky, yelping as the needle jabbed into his neck, crumpling to the ground.

The doctor closed his eyes and yanked it out with a gasp, opening his eyes to see that Naruto had absolutely destroyed the two restraints with a sudden outpouring of chakra and was engaged in a fierce taijutsu battle with the ANBU, trying to swing the unwieldy Kubikiri. The huge sword was actually a disadvantage for the young, inexperienced missing nin.

Seeing the alarm, the doctor made a beeline for it, hoping to be able to set it off.

Naruto, seeing this, jumped back from the furious taijutsu battle he and the ANBU were engaged in. Naruto didn't want to do it, but his survival came first. With only a small twinge of guilt, Naruto drew the Kubikiri back quickly, infused it with wind chakra, and hurled it straight at the doctor and the alarm he was just about to set off.

"No!"

Naruto was surprised by the distinctly feminine voice, and doubly so when the ANBU suddenly flickered in front of the doctor, catching the sword by the handle. She wasn't prepared to handle the force behind the throw, though, and was sent skidding back into the doctor, knocking the both of them onto the ground.

In an instant, Naruto flashed to the seal imbedded in the Kubikiri, materializing above the ANBU, his foot poised to smash her throat. At the last second, Naruto twisted his foot, glancing across the ANBU's temple, dashing her head against the ground knocking her out cold. The blonde then looked at the doctor cowering away from him. Naruto hesitated, before punching the man in the chin.

Naruto looked back to the Kubikiri and moved to pick it up, but then thought against it. The previous fight had just shown him firsthand that although the sword had proven helpful to him, it simply wasn't his style, no matter how cool it was. But he owed it to Zabuza at least to take care of the sword. He did after all borrow – more like steal – it. With a sigh, Naruto bent to retrieve the sword, shouldering it.

Naruto then looked at the two bodies on the floor before him. He shuddered as he realized that he had been prepared to kill them both, whether they had been innocent in all of this or not. In fact, it was the ANBU who had stepped in to save the civilian's life.

Was that really him? Stone cold killer? Naruto shuddered again before pushing the thoughts out of his mind. He just had to get out of here.

Leaving the two bodies in the room, Naruto closed the doors again, shivering as a chill crawled up his bare skin. Naruto looked down to realize sheepishly that he was still bare from the waist up. He had to find some clothes.

Looking down both ends of the corridor he entered, Naruto decided to go down the right. After trying the first few doors, Naruto was pleasantly surprised by his find. His armor laid out near the side of a supplies room. Naruto set down the Kubikiri and began to examine it, checking for any traps or hidden seals. It was clean.

All of the weapons had been stripped out of the hidden compartments. Unfortunately, that meant some of his father's special three-pronged kunai were confiscated as well. Hopefully, the decay-failsafes Naruto built into each seal would activate if they were tampered with, as he couldn't detect any of the kunai within his range. However, the good news was that there were no tracker seals on his armor. That meant that they hadn't expected him to escape. Good. He had the element of surprise for now.

Naruto grabbed a slightly baggy shirt and began to strap on the armor. It was rough against his skin, but for the first time, Naruto didn't feel utterly naked and vulnerable. He pulled his pants up slightly. Now, he was also glad that the glimpse of his froggy boxers were covered up.

The blonde then checked his left arm guard, searching for a hidden switch. This hidden compartment was different. There was a special switch hidden on side that could only be depressed if somebody was wearing the arm guard. Chances Danzo's ANBU they would open the compartment, let alone find the switch even in a through search were small.

Naruto then heard a small click as the switch depressed ever so slightly into the armor. With a soft hiss, a very thin wooden rod popped out above the left hand. At the end of the thin rod was a small, delicate, and slender brush. Infusing the brush with chakra, Naruto was glad to see the brush blacken slightly with ink. He had enough here for a couple of seals. Good.

Not for the first time, Naruto thanked Jiraiya for insisting on all of this gear being modified specifically for information gathering and infiltration missions.

Naruto began to quickly create a storage seal on his right wrist. Again, not for the first time was Naruto glad that Jiraiya had forced him to learn to write with both hands. Ero-sennin had taught him so much. Naruto paused, waxing nostalgic for a brief second. Then he channeled some chakra and in an instant, the Kubikiri was gone, back in a seal. Naruto was satisfied, knowing that the sword wouldn't get in his way again. Peeking out into the hallway again, Naruto saw two doctors coming down to probably check on him.

Withdrawing into the room, Naruto waited in silence behind closed doors, listening intently. As expected, the two doctors walked past the room, oblivious to the danger they were in. Like a panther, Naruto slid the door open soundlessly, creeping behind the two unsuspecting civilians like a wraith. Two hands raised silently. Not a second later, two bodies fell onto the ground with dull thuds.

Naruto dragged both bodies back into the storage room. First order of business was to figure out where he was. Naruto stilled himself then drew in natural chakra with a hint of nervousness. This time, though, nothing went wrong. Naruto was relieved to find that his chakra stores hadn't changed.

Reaching out into the world around him, Naruto was surprised to find that they were in the forest. Ground level of some sort of compound. Naruto stretched his senses out further in a horizontal direction, searching for any sort of landmark, and found that they were about a mile outside of Konoha. Getting his sense of direction, Naruto adjusted his internal compass.

Relieved to find that he wasn't in strange territory, Naruto began to assess who was in this compound. Only two ANBU guards inside, including the one he had just taken down. On the outside, there were two four-man cells patrolling around.

Then, Naruto felt another presence. Danzo. An anger flared in Naruto, but it was quelled quickly. Naruto was past revenge. He was through with whatever Danzo's plans were. He wasn't going to play into them anymore. He was going to leave and disappear and be gone for good. Suddenly, Naruto felt a presence that chilled his blood.

Jiraiya! Why the hell was he here?! Naruto had a choice to make. He could confront Jiraiya now, or he could leave. The best thing was to leave. But Jiraiya was here.

"…" Naruto waged an internal battle.

Dammit. Naruto grunted in frustration before heading towards Jiraiya's chakra signature. Please… Please… Naruto prayed silently, not really knowing what he wanted.

However, even wrapped in deep thought, Naruto was still stealthy as ever. It was child's play to avoid detection from the civilian doctors roaming the complex. Naruto intuited that this was some sort of research facility. Naruto didn't want to know what was being researched. He just wanted to get this done and over with. He was sick and tired of all this crap. Finally, Naruto was opposite the door where Jiraiya would be. Jiraiya and Danzo.

A sick feeling crept into Naruto's stomach. Ero-sennin wouldn't betray him like that, would he? Naruto suddenly wanted to run away. He didn't want to know what was behind the door, but inexorably, a sick fascination drew his hand forward, ever so slowly.

Naruto pushed the door open without a sound. He could hear two sets of voices coming from two men whose backs were turned to him. "We're done here, Danzo. You got what you want."

There was a long pause before Danzo replied. "Yes. You may leave."

"No! Not part of the deal, Danzo!" Jiraiya was getting incredibly worked up.

"You are not in a position to make demands, Jiraiya. Or have you forgotten?" Danzo stated simply. Even Naruto could feel the menace in his words.

"I finished the transfer for you, bastard. You better let Tsu– You better uphold your end of the deal!" Jiraiya bit out. Naruto was confused for only a second. _Tsu… Who's he–? Tsunade!_

Naruto's brain began kicking itself into overdrive. _Jiraiya_ was the one who had transferred the Kyuubi?! So Jiraiya was in on this from the beginning?!

Also, Tsunade was being kept under forcefully according to that message Jiraiya had left him. Wait, that message… It was a trap. Jiraiya's message had activated that compulsion crap in his mind! Naruto suddenly didn't know what to think. Was Tsunade in danger? Was her life being held over Jiraiya for his assistance, or was he simply intuiting too deeply into this? Did ero-sennin really betray me?

Naruto desperately wanted to believe that Jiraiya was being blackmailed. _Danzo has Tsunade in a coma or something, and he's holding that over Jiraiya's head. Has to be._

"You have the fox!" Jiraiya bit out after a short silence. "Now. LET. HER. GO!"

"My dear Jiraiya," Danzo began, utterly unfazed. "Before you make a mistake, let me ask you this. Do you think _she_ would appreciate your actions?"

Jiraiya flinched backwards as if slapped. He was quiet.

Naruto had heard enough. Danzo was going down. He could see the resolve shatter in Jiraiya's eyes as the doubts and fears hidden beneath the man's feelings for Tsunade were brought to the forefront. Naruto didn't know what to think, but ero-sennin had been like a grandfather to him. If anybody could, or even would help him take Danzo down, it was ero-sennin.

But as soon as Naruto moved forward, he froze.

"What about you, Naruto-kun?"

Jiraiya whipped around, a tornado of emotions raging within him. Student and teacher made eye contact amid the chuckles of the old manipulator. There was remorse, regret, and a plea? For forgiveness? Suddenly, there was a shift, and Naruto's eyes widened as he began to move. Too late.

Jiraiya suddenly appeared in front of him, an inscrutable look in his eyes.

"**Hunh!**" Naruto gasped out as Jiraiya's haymaker trucked straight into his stomach. Naruto was blasted through the doors and into the opposite wall in the hallway.

Grunting as he painfully pulled himself up, Naruto was too slow to avoid Jiraiya's next attack. Naruto choked and gurgled as Jiraiya's forearm pressed his neck against the wall. _Why is he attacking me?!_

In desperation, Naruto gripped ero-sennin's biceps with both hands and pulled himself up, launching his feet into the sage's chest. Naruto dropped to his feet, falling onto his hands as he gasped wildly. He looked up to see Jiraiya smash into the wall next to Danzo in a cloud of dust.

Danzo. That bastard was still standing there. And looking at ero-sennin, Jiraiya, Naruto felt an anger course through him. Maybe he was a no-good traitor!

"**Grahh!"** Snarling savagely, Naruto summoned the Kubikiri and in a fluid motion, powered it up with some wind chakra and hurled it horizontally at Jiraiya and Danzo. Two birds with one stone.

Jiraiya stumbled forward, trying to recover from the blow, even as Danzo leapt away with a speed that belied his age. Naruto watched in mixed horror and glee, almost, as the sword drew closer to Jiraiya.

But the sage had a few battles left in him. Falling backwards on his back, Jiraiya let the giant sword sail over him, using his arm to deflect the sword up into the roof, where it sliced through the stone easily, flying of into the sky. Such was the force of Naruto's enraged throw.

Before Jiriaya could even move though, Naruto suddenly flashed above him, leg raised, and smashed his heel into the sage's chest. The force of the blow caused the floor to crack. _When?_ Jiraiya suddenly thought about when Naruto had gripped his arm and pistoned both feet into him. _Then?_ Didn't matter now.

Jiraiya began to see stars, his vision spotting up as he desperately tried to force air into his lungs, which Naruto had just traumatized. Even through the gasping pain, Jiraiya managed to get a hold of Naruto's ankle, holding the blonde firmly in place. Seeing this, Naruto narrowed his eyes and tried to yank his foot back.

**"Ninja Arts: Forbidden Binding!**"

Naruto turned as he saw Danzo charging him with an unhealthy purple glow in his hands. Naruto looked down once more at his teacher. He had attacked. Now, he was trying to restrain him. That was proof enough that Jiraiya was a traitor. But even then, Naruto couldn't bring himself to strike again. Student and teacher made eye contact once more.

Jiraiya had a look of calm acceptance on his face. It wasn't rage, anger, repentance, or even sorrow. Just acceptance. That was what caused Naruto to finally turn away, before vanishing in a bright yellow flash.

Danzo cursed as he reached the spot where Naruto had just disappeared. "Where did he go?!"

"Gone…" Jiraiya muttered out, still wheezing as his internal organs readjusted to the absence of Naruto's foot.

Danzo looked down to Jiraiya and scoffed. "Pathetic. We don't need him now, anyways. Just another loose end to take care of. For your sake, you better hope that he hasn't strayed too far. For Tsunade's sake, I should say rather." With a cold sneer, Danzo turned and left the room, leaving a broken man behind.

Jiraiya let a tear fall down his face as he contemplated his failures to both his teammate and student, whose relationships went so much deeper for the old sage. "I'm… sorry."

IIIIIIIII

Naruto flashed back into existence next to the Kubikiri, which was lying on the roof of Danzo's compound. With dread, he realized that he was surrounded by the two ANBU squads he had sensed earlier. They must have seen the sword fly out the compound. They were within range of the Kubikiri, but he was out of range of their short swords.

But Naruto had a second's head start over the ANBU squads, who were caught off guard by his sudden entrance. In the blink of an eye, Naruto swung the Kubikiri, separating two unlucky ANBU's from their legs. A third was too slow and was cut deep in his side. Despite the huge wound, the man gripped the sword, determined to make an opening for his comrades.

An ANBU behind Naruto drew a sword, hoping to catch the blond off guard. Naruto only channeled an excessive amount of wind chakra into the blade, easily slicing through the third ANBU's waist. Continuing the motion, Naruto stabbed backwards, the massive length of his broadsword easily outdistancing the fourth ANBU's short sword. Naruto was suddenly beset by two ANBU, one wielding dual swords, the other hands enshrouded in chakra.

Releasing the Kubikiri, Naruto shot forward with his hands raise up, darting between and past the two combatants and taking the fight straight to the ANBU hanging back who was preparing a jutsu. The move caught all three by surprise. But at the last second, a female ANBU intercepted Naruto, engaging him in a high speed taijutsu battle.

Darting away from his intended target, Naruto exchanged blows before summoning a Rasengan into his right hand. Briefly, Naruto was aware that the long range specialist had his jutsu ready. Thrusting forward, Naruto smirked when the woman jumped back, both to avoid the Rasengan and the incoming inferno.

**"Fireball Jutsu!"**

Just as the specialist's jutsu was about to hit, Naruto disappeared in a flash of light, appearing behind the ANBU wielding the chakra scalpels. Completely taken by surprise, Naruto's Rasengan claimed another life.

Flashing again, Naruto had another Rasengan prepped in his left hand, this time appearing behind the ANBU with the swords. This man was quicker than his comrade though, and raise his chakra-channeling blades to Naruto's Rasengan. With an easy deflect, the ANBU saw an opening and stabbed with his other sword.

But Naruto wasn't done yet and flashed to the Kubikiri. In another flash, Naruto was back at the ANBU with two swords. The female, presumably the captain, anticipated this and flickered behind her subordinate, expecting Naruto to flash there as he did previously.

Both were surprised when Naruto appeared _in front_ of both ANBU. The blonde smirked and drilled his Rasengan straight into the man's stomach and pressed forward, slamming into the woman's side.

The captain, who had already tried to dodge, received only a glancing blow, but it was enough to warp her hip where she had been struck. Just walking was excruciatingly painful. Seeing that the captain was wounded, Naruto took the chance with a single shadow clone.

As his clone dealt with the captain, Naruto turned to the long range specialist, who was already unleashing another fire jutsu at him.

**"Fire Style: Dragon Missle!"**

Naruto ran forward, and as his hands were hidden by the raging flames, formed several quick seals. Bending down, Naruto tapped the ground. **"Earth Style: Rippling Stone!"** Naruto's jutsu caused a shockwave to ripple forward towards his opponent. A wall of broken earth crashed up and impacted against the fire jutsu. Instead of stopping, it continued to plow forward.

The specialist, though, was ANBU and battle-hardened. Launching into the air, he released another jutsu. **"Lightning Strike!"** A bolt of lightning shot towards Naruto.

With a quick counter, Naruto called out, **"Drilling Wind Bullet!"** Several wind bullets raced forward, one colliding with the lightning bolt, the others aiming for the jutsu's origin.

The specialist was caught in the air, unable to dodge. His eyes widened as Naruto's jutsu drilled into him, tearing apart his armor and skin. Despite hearing the screams of pain and panic, Naruto didn't stop there. Even as he unleashed his wind jutsu, Naruto followed up. **"Phoenix Flower Jutsu!"** A dozen balls of fire raced after Naruto's wind bullets, straight at the target.

Almost as soon as the wind drills tore the ANBU apart, he was struck again by a barrage of fireballs. What fell to the ground was a burnt lump of flesh.

As Naruto looked at his handiwork with a tinge of remorse, he stiffened as the memories of his clone came rushing to his mind. In a fluid motion, Naruto held out his hand and channeled some chakra into it, smoke instantly obscuring him from sight.

When the smoke cleared, Naruto was in the same position, holding the Kubikiri in a reverse position, the captain impaled through the torso, a look of confusion on her face. She had tried to flicker behind Naruto and catch him by surprise, but the blonde had anticipated the move. She ran right into the giant sword.

Naruto let the sword drop, the tip still embedded in the woman. He turned and looked at the ANBU, her eyes already glazed over in death. Taking a deep breath, Naruto reached forward and closed her eyes, his way of paying respect to the dead. He wasn't a butcher. Naruto looked around to the eight he had killed. The battle had only taken three minutes. The fact that he had taken these lives so quickly hit home hard for Naruto. These lives and more had been taken because of Danzo. Naruto thought back to his time under the influence. He shuddered. Never again, the young missing nin swore.

Resealing the Kubikiri, Naruto nearly pitched forward. He hadn't realized how much chakra he had expended in that battle. Chakra exhaustion was a novel experience for him, and it wasn't one he wanted to ever replicate.

He had to get out of here before reinforcements showed up.

Without another glance back, Naruto headed toward Wind Country, where he would hopefully meet up with Fū. As he journeyed, Naruto thought about Jiraiya and his teacher's actions. Naruto had a lot to think about. _He extracted the Kyuubi, and almost killed me_._ But was it his choice?_ Despite the questions, one thing was certain. Naruto's heart was heavy with a familiar feeling. One that had burned into his heart when Sasuke had turned his back on him. Betrayal.

* * *

**A/N:** Hi everybody. So sorry for the terribly long wait. At a cliffhanger too. I feels like I kinda rushed this chapter, since I know it's been a long wait, and after one rewrite, and numerous revisions, I can't seem to quite get it right. So my apologies if the quality is not as "there" as it should be. So I hope this chapter clears up Jiraiya's involvement with Danzo. If there is still confusion, I will deal with that in the next chapter. Hope you guys enjoy, and please review.


	12. Author's Note

Dear all,

I apologize for the delay, but after much deliberation, I have come to the conclusion that I cannot come to a conclusion. Therefore, I will ask you readers. Personally, I am slightly dissatisfied by the direction of the story. My creative juices do not seem to be flowing quite as well as the beginning of the story. I fear that my writing quality may suffer since I'm suddenly unsure of the direction of the story myself. And I thought I had it all planned out.

I believe that I have pinpointed the general location of the divergence from my original thoughts.

That being said, I am wondering if any of you readers would object to me possibly taking down this story and starting another one with a similar plot line, but one that deviates in certain points. I understand some of you are angry about the direction my plot has taken, and to be honest, I kind of shocked myself with this. It came out slightly more dark and angtsy than I thought it would.

In my defense, this was my first story, so it was an experiment of sorts for me. Hopefully, my next attempt, if it should ever come about, will be better.

So what do you say? Scrap and restart, or continue.

PM or leave a review is fine. And really tear into me if you think I deserve it. But keep it constructive please.


	13. Chapter 13: Closure (And Final Notes)

Dear all,

After taking all of your input into consideration and doing some serious thinking on my part as well, I've decided that I can't really leave those who want me to continue hanging, but I can't in good conscience continue a story that I will not be able to put my full enjoyment behind. Therefore, below is the rough outline for my story, detailing the major plot points. I've actually decided to redo the story with some suggestions about plot: Keeping it a little simpler, less frequent twists, more believability and such.

For those who wanted to see me continue, my apologies, but I will definitely continue this theme with my rewrite of this story. Chapters will be largely similar, but there will be a different focus. Hopefully, I will accomplish more of my goals. Thank you all.

* * *

After escaping the base, Naruto finds a seal on his leg, where Jiraiya gripped it. In surprise, he finds a message about Tsunade. Coordinates. She's under Danzo's watch, rushed out under martial law. She's in a medically induced coma.

Naruto debates what to do.

Leaves for town where he knows Fu has escaped from instructions on scroll he left with her. Meet up and try to reconcile.

Fu still feels shame for leaving Naruto. Naruto tells her about Jiraiya. Sort of make up as Naruto's anger toward Jiraiya forces Fu to comfort him.

Decide to follow directions and rescue Tsunade.

Meanwhile, Naruto continues teaching Fu about observation and hiding in plain sight. Two grow closer.

Arrive at bunker where Tsunade's being held. Great. Heavily guarded. The two make plans. Reluctantly use Jiraiya's instructions about layout of base. Sneak past outer guards. After much sneaking and a couple of silent kills, they find Tsunade. Already made plans about how to do this. Search for seals on Tsunade. She's alive BTW.

Disables them. Safe to take her. Disappear in a Hiraishin. Done easy.

Appear in a safehouse, where Jiraiya meets up with them. Naruto's angry. Argue.

Fu breaks it up. Naruto's still angry. Furious. Leaves in a hurry. Fu goes with him. Tries to say sorry to Jiraiya, old man has none of it. He knows that what he did was wrong. Sighs. Takes Tsunade back.

Cutscene: Danzo. "Everything's going according to plan."

Next few chapters are filler. Naruto does some missions with Fu, trying to deal with not being a Jinchuuriki. Two have heart to heart as they discuss it. Grow closer, but both hesitant about saying anything.

Finally, Naruto gets a hit from an informant about Danzo. The guy is meeting somebody at some city.

Naruto decides that he's going to kill Danzo for everything. Screw answers. The pair head off and arrive at the city about seven days before Danzo is expected to arrive. When they get there, Naruto has a convenient run in with the Rookie 11 or whatever number they are.

Kind of battle scene where the ones who are unsure about Naruto attack. They after all have been fed lies about what exactly Naruto has done.

Naruto subdues them, and Shikamaru convinces everybody to back off and get answers. That's what happens. Rookies are in the city to plan a security detail for a diplomatic mission, Danzo's mission. Naruto figures out that Danzo is using the diplomatic mission as guise. Keeps to himself. Tells Fu later when alone.

Naruto then explains that he was set up. Still don't believe him. Finally resorts to having Ino get into his mind as a show of trust. They all learn the truth. But Naruto has made sure to keep Danzo's identity as the perp hidden. Still cares for his friends and doesn't want them endangered by Danzo. Uses mind seals or something to keep memories hidden. (Think up of plausible method for hiding memories)

There's the typical drama as they all realize that Naruto is with someone now. The girls are all like gaga, and the guys are like, really? Fu is hesitant, and slightly jealous as she sees the way that the girls are acting around him. Missing nin charm at work, baby. Filler stuff to add some humor.

Shikamaru figures out though, that Naruto could be after Danzo. Connects dots as Danzo was main prosecutor at the trial. Keeps to himself. Smart guy.

Return to inn, and Fu confronts Naruto (sort of) about past relationships. Humorous encounter, no romance. Keep it friendly, but slightly flirty and some sexual tension going on between them.

Finally, after setting up, day of Danzo's arrival arrives. Naruto confronts Danzo, and gets him on his knees. Wins battle cause he's awesome. Danzo says he could care less about Hokage. He's working for village. BS, Naruto retorts. Confrontation. Explanation.

Suddenly, ANBU with Biju cloak appears and saves Danzo. Naruto, touching him, still in tune with fox chakra, realizes that only the chakra of the fox lay in the ANBU. Where's soul?

Finally forced to flee, but confused, as Danzo says to tool, let him go, he's worth more alive than dead. Naruto meets with Fu, tells her everything. They leave. Before leave, final meeting with Rookies. Fu gets really upset when a girl, maybe Hinata, maybe all three, try to make a move on Naruto. Doesn't say anything. Humurous drama. (I'm liking this way too much. Probably should leave this out. Not good writing usually.)

Naruto and Fu leave. Follow clue left by Danzo. There, they find an Akatuski hideout. It's abandoned, but searching thoroughly, they find a single clue, and it's barely anything. A white piece of something. (Piece of First Hokage's DNA stuff on Tobi/Obito.

Take it to be sampled. Don't know who it belongs too. Find out that Gaara is in trouble. They race to Sand, but are too late for the battle. They arrive just as Konoha is leaving. Naruto finally meets with Kakashi, Sakura, Neji, and Lee. A healer, three heavies. They talk briefly, and Kakashi is convinced partially of Naruto's truth. Tries to do investigating of his own. Naruto talks to Gaara. After talking, both realize that they are in similar positions. No Jinchuuriki. But not really! Both still have the spirits of the beasts within them. The seals, after being bonded for so long, kind of merged the two consciousnesses, but kept them separate. Explain more in depth.

Both suddenly realize that they need to unite the Jinchuuriki if they are to survive Akatsuki. Gaara is Kazekage though, so can't journey. Naruto realizes, so leaves with Fu. Fu is happy to meet Gaara, another Jinchuuriki, but kinda creeped out by the whole no-brows thing.

The two journey, meet the various Jinchuuriki, save all of them. Gathers them together. Some friction.

Scene cut: Akatsuki meeting about Naruto. "He's troublesome. Let's kill him." They still don't know about the fox being out of him. Danzo's kept this a secret still because he still has some use for Naruto.

As Jinchuuriki gather, two options. Have confrontation with Sasuke before killing Itachi, or have no confrontation, and Sasuke is recruited by Tobi according to canon.

Anyways, J-team (Jinchuuriki team) realize that the true goal is Tobi when Akatsuki comes a calling, realizing that all of the Jinchuuriki are in one place. Brief fight as they are all scattered, but finally, Naruto realizes that they are not safe, and teleports them all away, but they are followed by Tobi. Naruto fights briefly with him, but realizes he is outmatched by Tobi's superior jutsu. Tries to trade blows like when Minato fought Tobi, but Tobi has wised up. He knows the move and nearly takes Naruto's arm, but the blonde is saved by Fu, who arrived at their private battle location in time.

Naruto flees and Jinchuuriki scatter.

Tobi has ominous parting words.

Naruto analyzes tobi's battle strategy and figures some of it out. Meets with rest of Jinchuuriki, and all realize that they need to form a team. They have the best chance to stop this. This is a team operation. Team vs. team. Not army vs army. I like this better than the canon shinobi war.

As Jinchuuriki band together and train, Akatsuki realizes that their jobs have just become much harder. The teams begin to clash in small ways, each with both parties retreating due to similar skill level.

Knowing that Naruto is still close to friends, Nagato decides to attack Konoha as bait for the J-team. Succeeds in destruction, Naruto flashes onto scene. Confronts Nagato. Then rest of Akatsuki show up. J-team summoned then. Tsunade still in coma. Big battle. Each separates to take individuals or fight in pairs. BTW, Sasuke has already killed Itachi, so Akatsuki has lost that one member. Not sure how to fit that plot device in, but I'm thinking of making Sasuke rogue, so as to balance the sides, but maybe also make him Akatsuki.

If Sasuke=Akat, then Rookies confront Sasuke.

Finally, Naruto takes out Nagato's six paths of pain. However, during battle, he is almost killed, and Jiraiya steps in to save him, but not before being brutally wounded in the process. Naruto kills Nagato's bodies, and , and as Konoha rises up behind them, they realize that they are a little outnumbered here. Leave, but they have done their damage. Kakashi is dead, Jiraiya is dead, Konoha is crippled. Tobi is not with them. Doesn't want to reveal himself, as he suspects that Naruto already knows too much.

Nagato curses as he realizes that he has lost much in this battle. However, he is surprised as Naruto tracks him down with sage chakra. Tries to leave with Konan, but is cornered by Naruto. They go through a discussion. Split: Have Nagato revive everyone, or have Nagato try to kill Naruto and Naruto absolutely destroys Nagato and Konan. Destroys Rinnegan in process, as Naruto realizes how perverted it is to try to take somebody else's eyes and knows that they will ultimately do more harm than good.

However, Rinnegan is destroyed in the end by either Naruto or Konan. Honestly, how stupid was it that they didn't do this in canon? I mean, sure, respect the dead, but you know that Tobi's not going to do it, so take the proper precautions, right?

Build up to confrontation between Akatsuki and J-team. Duke it out. Danzo arrives with Root. Reveals that he has manipulated everything for this moment. Where he can kill Tobi. He knows who Tobi is from dealing with Orochimaru.

Tobi is slightly surprised and unnerved, but Danzo's sacrifice is in vain as Tobi is still alive. So Danzo is actually a good guy who does whatever it takes to protect the village. Still an a-hole bastard, though.

However, as Akatsuki begins to turn the tables, despite the J-teams stronger numbers, Akatsuki are all s-class after all, suddenly, in heroic turnout, kages of each village with special teams of jonin and elite nin arrive to assist the battle. There was secret kage meeting after destruction of Konoha, which Tsunade made after waking up. Realize that unity is better than disharmony. Big chapter on that.

Ultimately, Akatsuki is nearly wiped out, then Tobi reveals the statue, but it's too late, as it doesn't have the necessary chakra.

Good guys win in an epic battle which probably will turn out crappy, due to inability to video capture, but that's alright. Wrap up with an epilogue maybe, or a couple of one-shot-ish stuff regrading Naruto and his life after all of this drama. Don't know. We'll get here when we get here.

* * *

Hi Everybody... again.

So those are my notes, copied straight from my computer file, at least from the last chapter I posted. They were pretty scant, but well, they were meant as an outline for the actual story. According to my calculations, this could have possibly gone up to 100,000 words. Maybe 150 even. And that's at bare minimum in each chapter. So maybe 200,000 even! But alas, I messed up somewhere, and while I do like the plot of my notes, I think that it needs some revision.

For my remake, I was thinking of making the plot less grand, and turning Tobi into less of a typical villain who wants to rule the world, and maybe more of a guy who was so attached to Rin, that he couldn't let her go, and when she died, tried to do anything possible to bring her back. Believes in power of the sage, tries to do resurrect ten tails, makes himself Jinchuuriki, and revive Rin. So consumed by his obsession, he doesn't truly think about the consequences.

Can't be much worse than canon. I mean, look at the guy. He wants to rule the world and make an illusion out of it because there's nothing left worth living for since Rin's dead. Wouldn't you rather kill Kakashi first for revenge then let everything go? I mean, he's the caster of the illusion, so he won't be able to fool himself into thinking that Rin is alive. So what's the point? Seriously...

And the armies of Zetsus... I mean, sure the First Hokage's genes are powerful, but they're not miracle-gro for white plant zombies. There were just some of my opinions on what I think are fairly weird plotholes.

Then again, I could just say in my story that Obito definitely died in that rock fall, and Nagato continued to lead Akatsuki in pursuit of world peace. I mean, I relate more the Nagato than Obito, and if Rin's death couldn't help that– I mean, I just have a hard time liking Tobi as a character since he's just so flat. I mean, Kishimoto says so that Obito/Tobi doesn't care, but characterizing your character as flat and then having say that he is to justify it is simply poor character work IMO.

But I've ranted enough. This starter story, which is actually my first fanfiction that I wrote (I published my other Naruto Sasuke story first, since I thought that might be more popular, but guess not) and rekindled and let die again, I think that it's been alright so far. But I'll definitely rewrite this, with a different focus in the plot. I want it to be more character driven, and less crisis driven. After all, a secondary reason I wrote this was to delve into the possible relationship between two Jinchuuriki.

Anyways, I'm out of stuff to say. So I hoped you enjoyed what you've read, and again, my deepest apologies that I let this story get away from itself. I just simply didn't think it through enough, considering that I was caught up myself by the drama and conspiracy. Too much Hawaii-five-0. Leave a review or message me regarding what you think. Sorry and thanks.

~Limadude


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